I spy with my bionic eye
by ZenoNoKyuubi
Summary: Naruto gets crippled when he is very young. A puppeteer from Suna helps him with his condition. Story is much, much better than the summary. Pairing: NaruxHana
1. Chapter 1

**Rewrite. The pairing is NaruxKyuuxKure and maybe Anko. **

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**October 10th. Narutos birthday. Oh how he hated that day. Seven years ago, Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage, sealed the great demon lord Kyuubi into Narutos stomach. Minato wished for Naruto to be treated like a hero but the villagers didn't obey. They glared at him, called him hateful words, beat him and sold him rotten food for double or triple the price. The beatings were worse on his birthday, the Kyuubi festival. 

Right now a bunch of villagers, civillians and shinobi, had broken down his door and gave him a savage beating.

"Hey guys! This little demon wants to become a ninja." one of the shinobis said, a woman with ruby red eyes who obviously had been drinking quite a bit, judging by the smell, said and pulled out a kunai. "How about we eliminate his chance of that huh?" she asked getting nods and wicked smiles from the others. They held onto Narutos arms and legs and held him down. The woman, Yuuhi Kurenai, crouched down.

'This is for my parents.' she thought before making a quick slash across his left eye. Naruto screamed in agony. She moved from his left eye to his right leg. Naruto watched in horror as she proceeded to saw his leg off at the knee. The 'procedure' was agonizing. She made sure to make every movement of the knife as painful as possible.

After she was done with the right leg she moved on to the left. After that, his left arm at the elbow.

Inside its cage the Kyuubi squirmed. 'This is bad! I can heal cuts and stabs but not eyes or severed limbs!' he thought. During the seven years of imprisonment it had come to respect the kit. Living through all those beatings without breaking.

Just when she was about to saw off his right arm a guy at the door shouted a warning. "The Hokage is coming! Let's get out of here!" he shouted making everyone at the apartment either run out the door or shunshin away, leaving Naruto in a bloody heap on the floor. The Hokage came into Narutos living room with a full ANBU squad behind him. He saw the boy he fell to his knees and cried.

"Naruto!" he sobbed and crawled towards the boy. He picked him up and turned to the ANBU. "Find the ones who did this."

A chorus of "Hai!" came from the ANBU before they shunshined away.

The Hokage took Naruto to the hospital to a doctor who didn't hate him. Unohana Retsu saw the mutilated boy and immediatly rushed him to the emergency room.

After fifteen long minutes she came out with a sad look on her face.

"How is he?" the Hokage asked.

"His eye is beyond repair and so is his arm and leg as you've probably guessed. He suffered from stab wound on his upper body but those were not fatal. He is in a coma right now." she said quietly making the Hokages eyes widen. "You can go see him if you'd like."

Sarutobi walked into Narutos room and cried the moment he saw the boy. It would have been a beautiful sight seeing the boy sleeping peacefully if it wasn't for the severed limbs. Sarutobi walked up to the small child and placed a hand on his forehead.

"I'll find a way to make it better. I'll help you." he said before leaving.

A week passed without Naruto waking up. The Hokage could be seen looking through scrolls in his office, the library and the hospital. He was heartbroken. Becoming a ninja, and later Hokage, was his entire life. It was, to him, his only way of getting the villagers to acknowledge him. How the hell was Sarutobi supposed to be able to fix the boys arm and legs. He lifted a scroll and under it he found an opened bingo book.

Name: Akasuna no Sasori

Age: N/A

Rank: S

Bloodline: None

Crimes: Wanted for defecting from Suna and violating Sunas laws by making human puppets.

That was as much as Sarutobi read before jumping out of his chair while grabbing an empty scroll. He started writing frantically before rolling it up and calling for a chunnin.

"Get this to Suna as fast as possible." he told the chunnin who nodded and poofed away. "I just hope she isn't still angry with Konoha." he muttered before sitting down, lighting his pipe.

Meanwhile Kurenai was in trouble. She was having an inner battle with herself.

'That demon deserved what he got.' she thought with a nod.

_'How do you know he's a demon?'_ said a voice in her head that sounded like a wizened elder.

'He is. Look at those whisker marks. No human could just get whisker marks like that.' she thought back.

_'Really? They could be something from his clan or just birthmarks or a sign of him being the jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi. Look at the Hyuugas. Are they demons because their eyes aren't like ours?' _the voice asked making Kurenai contemplate its words carefully while thinking of a comeback.

'He is a demon! There is no information of who his arents are or anything! He just showed up on the same day that the Kyuubi was 'killed'.'

_'Maybe his parents had a reputation? Maybe they had to protect him from assassins. Do you have so little faith in the Sandaime and Yondaime?'_

'No! Yondaime-sama is our hero!'

_'And yet you doubt his skills.'_

'What? No I don't!'

_'Then why do you call the child he wanted to be called a hero a demon?'_

Unable to think of a response she just went to bed.

_'You know that I'm right.'_ the voice said right before she fell asleep.

That night she had the worst nightmare in her entire life. She dreamt that it was her lying on the ground having her arm and legs cut off by him, and when they were done the dream started all over again. That happened every night until she was too afraid to go to sleep.

A week later Sarutobi was sitting in his office when a chunnin poofed in.

"Hokage-sama. There is an old lady from Suna at the gates." he said and Sarutobi nodded before poofing away.

He poofed into existence at the gates where an old lady from Suna who goes by the name of Chiyo, or Chiyo-Baasama, was waiting.

"This better be good Sarutobi-kun." Chiyo told the Hokage. "What was so important that you couldn't tell me in the letter?"

Sarutobi sighed. "I need you to come see this." he said and led her to the hospital, or more precisely, Narutos room.

"Look at him." Sarutobi said and pointed at Naruto. "This is the jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi no Kitsune. He was brutally attacked two weeks ago and lost his left arm and both legs. The only thing in his life that kept his hopes of acknowledgement from the villagers up was being a ninja and later Hokage. Those dreams were crushed by a mob of drunken villagers on his birthday. I beg of you. Please put aside your grudge against Konoha and help this boy." he asked and got down on his hands and knees, surprising Chiyo.

She thought for a moment. "I'll think about it." she said and walked out of the room, leaving a slightly smiling Sandaime. If t was one thing he learned through all his years of friendship with Chiyo, it was that whenever she said 'I'll think about it.' she usually meant yes.

The next day Kurenai was sitting in the dango shop with her best friend Anko.

"You look terrible Kurenai." Anko said while munching on her dango stick.

"Yeah, well, I haven't gotten much sleep lately." Kurenai admitted making Anko raise an eyebrow.

"Oh really? How come?"

"That demon is haunting me in my dreams." Kurenai said making Anko growl in anger.

"Demon? What demon? You don't mean the Kyuubi container do you?" she asked and Kurenai nodded thinking the growl of anger was a growl of hatred towards the 'demon'.

"Yes him. I don't know what he did to me but I can no longer sleep without having a nightma-" was all she managed to say before getting a hard slap in the face by Anko. "Anko? What-"

"I never thought you were as shallow as the villagers Kurenai. But I guess I was wrong. What about me? Do consider me a traitorous snake bitch? Don't judge someone without getting to know them first!" Anko shouted at Kurenai who just sat there, holding the red mark on her cheek. "I can no longer consider you a friend Kurenai. You can come see me when you have come to your senses." she said and walked away.

_Inside Narutos mind_

Naruto was not having a good time. He was, just like Kurenai, reliving the same thing over and over and over again. Every second was the most painful he'd ever felt. All of a sudden everything froze and his surroundings started to look like a wet painting. The paint started dripping down on the ground, revealing a yellowish wall behind it. His arm and legs also grew back. When all the paint on the walls was gone, the paint on the ground reached his ankles. The paint dissipated to reveal plain water. Infront of him was a huge gate. In the middle of the gate was a piece of paper with the kanji for seal on it.

"Finally. I thought I'd never get through to you." said a deep rumbling voice from behind the bars. Naruto looked up and saw the face of a huge red fox with nine swirling tails.

"W-Who are you?" he asked with fear evident in his voice.

"I am the king of all demons! The strongest of the Bijuu! I am the great KYUUBI NO KITSUNE!" the fox shouted with pride evident in its voice.

"K-Kyuubi?! B-But you're dead! The Yondaime killed you!"

"HA! Like a puny mortal would be able to kill me! No Kit. He didn't kill me. He sealed me inside you." Kyuubi said making Naruto eyes widen.

"M-Me? Why would he do that? Why me?" he asked with tears in his eyes. (Now people. You might say that Naruto would go on a rant about being a demon but think of it this way. If you was told that you were the container of a demon, by the demon, infront of the demon. Would you think that you were a demon?)

"I don't know. I needed to be sealed into a newborn whose chakra coils hadn't developed yet. Maybe you were the only one born that day. Maybe you're his son. Maybe you're his grandson. How should I know?" Kyuubi said with a shrug.

"Wait! How did my arm and legs grow back?!" Naruto asked.

"This is your mind kit. Your physical body was damaged but not you mind. That's why you have your limbs back."

"So... They're not really back?"

"No. I'm sorry for putting you through this Kit. What the villagers are doing to you is vile, even for me. Not even demons treat their own kin like that unless it's a fight for your position in power. But I'm going to help you. As soon as I find a way to make up for what you have suffered through I will help you." Kyuubi said making Naruto smile.

"Domo arrigato Kyuubi-san." Naruto said with a bow.

"Now since our minds have gotten this close to eachother I am able to establish a link between us so we can talk to eachother when you get out of your coma. I need you permission though." Kyuubi said and Naruto nodded.

"Do it. It'll be nice to have someone to talk to."

The Kyuubi nodded before making a movement with its claws as if snapping its fingers. "I got it! I know what I can do for you!" it said making Naruto raise an eyebrow.

"Really? What?"

"You are grossly malnourished Kit. I can build up your muscles, enhancing your strength and making you grow alittle taller. If I know that old Hokage, which I do since I've been watching everything happen in your life through your eyes, he's going to think of a way to help you achive your dream."

"Please do it Kyuubi-san."

"Hey! I have a name you know."

"Really? Then what is it?"

"Megami."

"Godd... ess..." Naruto said with wide eyes. "Y-You're a girl?!"

"Yes! Of course I'm a woman! What? You don't think a woman can be the most powerful being on earth?!" Kyuubi shouted making Naruto wince at the volume.

"Of course I think a woman can be as strong as you are! It's just that with your voice. You don't really sound like a woman."

"I know. I have to sound like a man. Otherwise no one will take me seriously until I decimate their homes." Kyuubi said with a huff.

"Is that why you attacked the village? Because you wasn't taken seriously?" Naruto asked with disbelief in his voice.

"No. I attacked because I was forced to. I was sleeping peacefully until that pig of a man Uchiha Madara showed up. He hypnotized me with his Sharingan. I don't know what it is but something or someone has made his eyes insanely strong. If you ever come up against that man make sure you never look into his eyes." Kyuubi said and Naruto nodded. Then he thought of something.

"Hey! Do you mean Uchiha Madara as in THE Uchiha Madara who helped Shodai-sama create this village?"

Yes. How did you know?"

"We read about him once in history class." Naruto said making the Kyuubi go wide eyed.

"Has there actually been a history lesson where you weren't asleep?" she asked incredilously.

"Yes. How could you not know that? I thought you said that you had been watching my life through my eyes." Naruto said making Megami blush. Luckily for her, Naruto didn't see it because of her red fur covering it up.

"Well... I usually go to sleep at the same time as you during history class."

"You find it boring too huh?"

"...Yes... But enough of that. I've managed to put those memories away. You can wake up soon. Though making these changes in your body will hurt." Kyuubi said making Naruto slump his shoulders.

"Great... More pain. But at least this time I'm getting something out of it." he said making Megami grin.

"Yeah. Now close your eyes and I'll get started." she ordered and Naruto obeyed. Her chakra started swirling around Naruto before it encased him. He took it like a man though. He didn't scream. The removal of his limbs hurt alot more than that.

Meanwhile outside Sarutobi was sitting next to Narutos bed, waiting for him to wake up when he felt the presense of Megamis chakra. He turned to look at Naruto and saw him writhing in pain. He was just about to do something when a shield of chakra shot up around Naruto. He watched in awe as Narutos body started growing and, surprisingly, changing his hair collor. After five minutes the shield lowered. Sarutobi ran up to Naruto to check if there was any sign of the seal being broken. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found the seal still intact.

"I take it that was the demons chakra." said a voice from behind him. He turned around to see Chiyo standing there with a scroll in her hand. "I've decided to help." she said before they heard a groan coming from the boy.

"Am I awake yet?" Naruto asked and looked at the stump that used to be his left arm. "Appearently I am."

"Naruto-kun!" Sarutobi exclaimed and grabbed the boy in a hug. "I'm so glad you're awake. And perfect timing too. This is Chiyo-baasama from Suna. She's a master puppeteer. She will help you gain your limbs back. Maybe not your original limbs but they're better than nothing." Sarutobi said and gestured for Chiyo to step forward.

"Naruto-san. These will be your new limbs." Chiyo said and opened the scroll before smearing blood on it to reveal a metal left arm and two metal legs (Like Terminator). "I'll let you know the basics of it. Now these limbs are one of a kind. Not only are they metal instead of wood but they also have their very own chakra system. Normally you would have to use chakra strings to make them move but these limbs' chakra system connects to your brain, imitating the lost nerves. So basically you have arms that move on chakra instead of muscle power. The only flaw is that you won't be able to move them if you're out of chakra.

Since they're fused with you they will grow with you, so you don't have to worry about it when you grow older. I have also added a few trinkets to help.

In your arm I have placed three blades, one between each knuckle. On your forearm I have also placed three claw like blades as you can see in the small slots. All you have to do is push chakra into the blades you want to use. (It's basically like Wolverine claws and the spikes Batman has on the side of his forearms, only that they are bigger and reversed.)

In the legs I placed the three blades claw blades on each shin (The Batblades) and a knee blade (Like one of Wolverines claws. Only bigger).

Oh, and by the way, since your arm and legs are powered by chakra you can just pump more chakra into them to make them stronger.

That's pretty much it. They may be too small for you but like I said they will grow to the right size when I fuse them with you stumps." she said and gestured for Sarutobi to lay him down on the floor. Sarutobi nodded and did just that.

"I am now going to fuse your limbs together. It's gonna hurt a bit." she said and hooked all the limbs to the stumps before performing a couple of handseals. The smell of burning flesh and molten metal rose from the boy as the arm and legs were fused with his body. Naruto was holding in a scream that would have shattered the window had he let it out. 'I think the old man said it wrong. I don't think he meant to say it will hurt quite a bit. I think he meant to say it will hurt like a bitch!' he thought in agony. 'It feels like it felt when that woman cut them off.'

When all was done he layed there panting on the floor.

"It's going to take some getting used to but I think you'll do fine." Chiyo said and started walking out of the room. Oncce she was at the door she turned around. "Oh and if you're ever in the neighbourhood please come visit me. I'd like to see how my little project worked out." she said with a smile.

"Alright. I am greatly in your debt Chiyo-baasama." Naruto said and returned the smile.

"It's no problem. It's Sarutobi-kun who is in my debt." she said with a grin before disappearing.

"This is great!" Kyuubis voice shouted in Narutos mind.

'Megami-chan?' Naruto thought with a raised eyebrow making Sarutobi raise his own eyebrow.

"What's wrong Naruto-ku-" he asked but was silenced by Naruto holding up his hand.

"I can't heal lost limbs but I can flesh and skin so if you want I can cover up that metal." Megami said making Naruto go wide eyed.

'Really?! Do it please!' he shouted at Megami in his mind.

"Alright just make sure you get back to bed first." Megami told Naruto who nodded before telling Sarutobi to put him back to bed. Once he was back to bed Naruto felt a tingling sensation at his elbow and knees. He looked down to see skin slowly spreading across his metal arm and legs. "Cool." he said while Sarutobi just stared.

"H-How?" he asked incredilously.

"Kyuubi." Naruto answered making the Hokage go wide eyed.

"Y-You can talk to him?" he asked Naruto who raised a finger.

"Her. I can talk to her."

"Her?" and so Naruto told the Hokage everything Megami had told him.

"So Madara is still alive after all these years?" Sarutobi asked while rubbing his temples.

"Appearently." Naruto answered with a shrug. He looked down and saw that the skin had finally healed properly. He jumped out of bed only to fall as soon as he landed on the floor. "Well this is going to take some getting used to." he said and Sarutobi nodded with a chuckle.

The next three months were spent to learn how to use his new body parts properly. He was glad that he had Megami in his stomach when his batblades shot into his thigh when he hit himself on the leg in a pissed off manner. Iruka also dropped by from time to time with his hands full of Ichiraku take out.

Kurenai, who had started feeling really down because of Anko refusing to talk to her, had decided to see what the 'demon', which she now had her doubts about, was doing. When she saw him try to walk with his new legs only to fall down after three steps she started wondering if he really was a demon.

'Okay. Proof of that he is a demon: He's grown and changed his hair color to the Kyuubis color.'

_'Could be the demon doing that on its own without his consent.'_

'Whisker marks'

_'Again. Could be the demon or something that happened during the sealing.'_

'He has his limbs back.'

_'Didn't you hear the nurse?! The worlds most famous puppeteer came and helped him you idiot!'_

'Well... Then how can he still be so calm and collected even though he knows that he doesn't ave a real arm or legs?!'

_'Think about it. How many beatings has he suffered through? Too many to count. And I have proof that he is not a demon.'_

'Oh yeah? What?'

_'What did he do when you severed his limbs?'_

'Well, he screamed and... cried.'

_'Excactly! Demons don't cry!'_

'B-But... If he isn't a demon... Then I... I...' and that was all it took for her to break down crying in the middle of the street.

One month later Naruto had gotten the hang of it slightly when his window opened.

"Y-You!" he shouted and fell over when he saw Kurenai crouching on the windowsill. "G-Get away from me!" he screamed and crawled into a corner.

"Naruto please list-" she started when she jumped into the room.

"Help! Help me!" Naruto shouted, alerting the three ANBU outside who came rushing in with their swords drawn.

"What's wrong Naruto?" an ANBU with a dog mask asked the terrified child.

"I-It's her! She's the one! She's the one who did this to me!" Naruto shouted and pointed at the wide eyed Kurenai.

"N-Naruto. Please listen to me." she said but was interupted by two ANBU, one with a bear mask and the other with a cat mask.

"Take her to jail. I'll go get Hokage-sama." the dog masked one told the other two who nodded and shunshined away. The dog mask grabbed Naruto by the shoulder and shunshined to the Hokages office.

"Hokage-sama. We've found the one who did this to Naruto. She's been taken into custody." he told the Hokage who immediatly got out of his chair.

"What? Who was it?"

"A jounin named Yuuhi Kurenai." the dog mask said and Sarutobi nodded.

"Does she have a criminal record?"

"I don't know sir. What should we do with her?"

"Keep her there. See if she has a criminal record. I'll be there shortly." Sarutobi said and Dog nodded before poofing away.

"Naruto." Sarutobi said. "Are you sure this was the woman who attacked you?" he asked getting a nod from the boy.

"Yes. But don't kill her Oji-san. I don't want her death on my consience. Send her to jail but don't kill her." Naruto said getting a smile from the Hokage.

"Okay. I'll see what I can do. Stay here until I get back." he said before poofing away.

He showed up in Konohas prison where Kurenai was held down by Cat and Bear while Dog was waiting for Sarutobi.

"She doesn't have a previous record Hokage-sama." Dog told the Hokage who nodded.

"Yuuhi Kurenai. You are standing here accused of heavy assault (I don't know if this is the right word for it but I'm talking about the crime where you beat someone to near death). Naruto has pointed you out. We can make this fast and simple or we can go to court with it. How do you plead?"

"I... Yes. I did it. But please just let me talk to him."

"You can talk to him when you get out. You are hereby demoted to chunnin and you are to be placed in jail for three years. You can thank Naruto for not wanting me to kill you." Sarutobi said and left the ANBU to take the now hysteric woman away.

He once again poofed into the office to find Naruto reading a scroll labeled 'To Naruto'.

"_Dear Naruto_

_If you are reading this then that means that the sealing worked and I am dead. I was hopng that I'd see you grow up but I guess I can't huh? I hope that the villagers are treating you right. I wish for them to see you as a hero but I know how powerful hatred is. Forgive me my son and I hope Kushina is doing a good job raising you and your sister __but I think she's alright without me._

_Grow up strong and respected. I'm counting on you to kick Shinigamis ass and get me out of there. I'm guessing it's pretty painful in there._

_With love, your father Namikaze Minato._" Naruto read out loud to the wide eyed Hokage. "Why haven't you told me about this?"

"W-Where did you find that Naruto-kun?" Sarutobi asked looking at the slightly pissed off Naruto.

"In one of your drawers when I was looking for candy. Now why haven't you told me about this?" Naruto asked while glaring at the Hokage.

"I was planning on telling you when you became a chunnin. You must understand Naruto. Your father had enemies everywhere. I did this to protect you." Sarutobi said with a sigh.

"And my mom? And my sister? What about them?"

"I don't know... Your mother left the village with your sister on the day your father sealed Megami in you. I've been trying to contact her but no one knows where she is." Sarutobi said with a sigh.

"So she abandoned me... Is she like the rest of the villagers?" Naruto asked with his head down.

"Yes. I think she is... I'm sorry Naruto-kun."

"Don't be. It's not your fault she left. She's the one at fault." Naruto said and got up to leave.

"Where are you going?" Sarutobi asked.

"To the academy. I think I missed enough." Naruto said and Sarutobi shook his head.

"Oh no you're not. I've already sent a letter to Iruka. I'm going to be teaching you from now on. Once you've progressed enough I'll give you the scrolls for your fathers jutsus." Sarutobi said making Naruto go wide eyed.

"Y-You're going to be teaching me?" he asked. At Sarutobis nod he jumped into the air. "YAT- Uh oh." he said as he landed and fell once again.

Time skip: 3 and a half years.

Naruto was standing infront of Sarutobi with a proud look on his face. He could now move his arm and legs as if they were his own original limbs. He and Megami had grown from neutral to close friends. Chiyo had come by once more too.

_Flashback 1 year ago_

_"Hello Naruto-kun." Chiyo said when Naruto entered Sandaimes office._

_"C-Chiyo-baasama! What are you doing here?" Naruto asked with wide eyes._

_"I came to see how my little project worked out. And I made a new part for you." she said making Naruto sweatdrop._

_"You're making me feel like a robot." he said and Chiyo laughed._

_"Well, you are. Half at least. Now what I came here for." she said and held up what looked like a ball of metal._

_"What's that?" Naruto and Sarutobi asked at the same time._

_"It's your new eye." she said making the two go wide eyed. "But you have to be careful with it. It sucks alot of chakra so only use it when you're going to fight."_

_"Hai." Naruto said and gestured for the floor. "Should I lay down like last time?"_

_"No. That won't be necessary." Chiyo said and forcefully pushed his new eye into the socket. "This is going to hurt like last time so be prepared." she said and performed the same fusion jutsu._

_When all was over Naruto was sitting on the ground rubbing his eye in pain. "Ow." he said quietly._

_"Now this eye has a zoom function like the Byakkugan and a copying function like the Sharingan. It can also see chakra like both, has night vision and heat vision. I tried to put x-ray in there to but it didn't fit. Feel free to tell me if you lose anymore bodyparts. I'll be happy to fix you up my little friend." Chiyo said with a witch like laugh before poofing away, leaving a slightly dazed Naruto and a wide eyed Sarutobi._

_"Amazing. Your eye now has two functions from each of our two strongest clans doujutsus." Sarutobi said and Naruto just nodded. Sarutobi smiled. "Great! Then this will just make learning easier for you! Try it out." he said and Naruto nodded again. He closed his eyes and concentrated. When he opened them again Sarutobi nodded to himself with a smile when he saw that in the place where there was once just a metal ball was now a green iris that looked like the lense of a camera. 'Chiyo, you've done it again.' he thought with a smile._

_"It's green." Naruto said and looked at Sarutobi. "And chakra is blue." Sarutobi nodded._

_"Okay. Turn it off and we'll go training." he told Naruto who was looking out the window._

_"This is great! I can see our training ground. Oh... It's occupied."_

_Flashback end_

Naruto thoroughly enjoyed his new eye. He could be standing on the Hokage monument peeping on the women in the hotsprings. (Yes ladies and gentlemen! Naruto-sama is a pervert! But to his defence, every guy is a pervert.)

"Now Naruto." Sarutobi said from behind his desk. "It's been a good 3 and a half years training you but now is the time for you to become a ninja of this village. Go to Irukas classroom tomorrow at 10 am to meet with your new team." Sarutobi said and handed Naruto a black headband.

Naruto took it and put it on his forehead. He was wearing black combat boots, clack cargo pants and a black tank top. "Arrigato Sarutobi-sensei. Who's in my team? Wait a minute, don't tell me." he said and activated his eye. He looked at the paper on Sarutobis desk and zoomed in.

_Team 7_

_Uzumaki Naruto, Inuzuka Kiba and Nara Shikamaru_

_Sensei: Hatake Kakashi._

"Hatake Kakashi? Shouldn't he be training the Uchiha?" Naruto asked and Sarutobi nodded.

"Yes he should be, according to the council. But the council can only make decisions involving civilian matters but not shinobi matters. Kakashi specifically asked to train you."

"Me? Why?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because he was a student of your father and the dog masked ANBU I put in charge of protecting you while you were in the hospital." Sarutobi said and Naruto nodded.

"I'll have to thank him for that." he said and turned around. "See ya Sarutobi-sensei." he said and exited the office.

* * *

**Now how do you like that?! A little longer and more describing. Which do you like better? This or the original? Oh and credits for the ideas for the rewrite goes to Andoryu-sama**

**R&R!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yo! ZnK here! Chapter 2 is here!

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**Naruto showed up in Irukas classroom at 9 am to get a good spot in the back. There was a boy there already. He had black hair tied up so he looked like a pineapple.

"Hey. You weren't in class. This is for the graduating class only." the pineapple said while Naruto pointed at his forehead, he had decided to cover up his metal eye with his Hitai-ate.

"I was trained by the Hokage. Don't you remember me Shikamaru?" Naruto asked the boy who narrowed his eyes before shaking his head.

"No I don't."

"It's me Naruto." Naruto said with a grin making Shikamaru go wide eyed.

"N-Naruto! What happened to you?! You used to be small and scrawny with yellow hair! Not tall and muscular with red hair! You look like you're 15 years old! Of course I wouldn't remember you!" he shouted while flailing with his arms in a very un-Shikamaru like behavior.

"Well, Sarutobi-sensei put me on a different diet then only ramen and trained me physically. And the hair was just a spur of the moment kind of thing." Naruto said and ran a hand through his hair.

"But the last thing I heard was that you lost an arm, an eye and both legs! I don't understand a thing!" Shikamaru shouted again making Naruto laugh.

"Yeah, well... Sarutobi-sensei contacted a puppeteer from Suna who helped me with that." Naruto said and lifted his Hitai-ate to reveal his eye making Shikamarus eyes go wide.

"Woah." was all he could say.

"Yeah. I know." Naruto said before going to sit in the back.

By 10 am everyone who had graduated was sitting in the classroom, all looking strangely at Naruto. Iruka came in to the class.

"Alright class. Congratulations on passing. I will now announce the teams. Team 1... (Like always I will skip these) Team 7 Uzumaki Naruto, Nara Shikamaru and Inuzuka Kiba. Team 8 Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino and Akimichi Chouji. Team 9 is still in rotation from last year. And finally Team 10 consists of Haruno Sakura, Yamanaka Ino and Uchiha Sasuke." and just as he finished everyone winced at the two high pitched squeels coming from the two Uchiha fangirls.

"Iruka-sensei! Who is this Naruto?" asked a random kid making Naruto raise his arm.

"That's me." he said and Iruka nodded.

"You all know Naruto. He was in this class four years ago until his... accident. But he's better now and has been trained personally by Hokage-sama so it's fine." he said making the class go wide eyed. "Alright. Your senseis should be here soon." he said and walked out leaving the entire class to turn their attention to Naruto.

"I will not answer any questions." he said simply before closing his eyes.

Ten minutes later the door opened to reveal a man in beard and a cigarette in his mouth. "Team 10 with me." he said and waited for his team to follow him.

Later only Narutos team and Team 8 were left when the door opened and Kurenai walked in. Everyone had a hard time breathing when a sudden burst of killing intent came from Naruto who had activated his eye.

Kurenai cleared her throat. "T-Team 8. You're with me." she said and quickly left after giving Naruto an apologizing look while Naruto just glared at her.

"What the hell did you just do?!" Kiba asked Naruto once said red head had stopped flooding his killing intent.

"Killing intent." was all Naruto said before closing his eyes again.

"And why were you using something that almost made me piss my pants?" Kiba asked with his eyes still wide.

"She's the one responsible for my... accident." Naruto answered with a voice that said 'Ask me anything else and I'll rip off your head and piss down your throat'.

They waited for three hours with Naruto telling Kiba everything he told Shikamaru and telling them both what his bionic parts could do since teammates should know the extent of their teammates abilities. He didn't tell them that he knew Hiraishin or Rasengan though.

After some more waiting they heard footsteps outside. The door opened to reveal a man in standard jounin outfit, mask and his Hitai-ate covering his left eye. Naruto and him just looked at eachother for a while before pointing accusedly at eachother while both shouting "COPYCAT!".

"What's your excuse for hiding your eye?!" Kakashi shouted at Naruto who lifted his Hitai-ate to show him and activate his metal eye.

"I have a bionic eye! What's your excuse?!" Naruto shouted back making Kakashi raise his own Hitai-ate.

"I have a chakra sucking Sharingan!"

They both glared at eachother with their special eyes for a while before huffing and turning away from eachother.

"My first impression of you is... you all suck." he said before pointing up. "Meet on the roof." and with that he poofed away.

The three genin looked at eachother before heading out the door.

Once on the roof Kakashi was glaring at Naruto who was glaring right back at him.

"Now we do introductions. Name, likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams." he said and Naruto snorted.

"Isn't it considered polite to introduce yourself first?" he asked and Kakashi nodded.

"Alright, I'll go first. My name is Hatake Kakashi. My likes and dislikes are none of your concerns. I have lots of hobbies... My dreams for the future are also none of your buisness." he said and pointed at Kiba. "Now you dog boy."

Kiba growled before answering. "My name is Inuzuka Kiba. My likes are dogs and training. My dislikes are poeple who doesn't treat dogs right. My hobbies are training and hanging out with my partner Akamaru here and my dream is to become a strong clan heir." he said and Kakashi nodded and pointed at Shikamaru.

"You next sleepy head." he told Shikamaru who was sitting half asleep.

"My name is Nara Shikamaru. My likes are sleeping and cloud watching. My dislikes are troublesome things. My hobbies are sleeping and cloud watching and my dream is to become a so-so ninja with an average salary and then settle down and have a family." he said making the others sweatdrop.

"Okay. You next copycat." Kakashi said and pointed at Naruto.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. My likes are training and my friends. My dislikes are people who judge others without getting to know them first and a certain kunoichi. My hobbies are training and peeping in the hot springs and my dream is to become the worlds strongest ninja and Hokage."

"You like peeping?" Kakashi asked with a wide eye.

"Yes I do copycat." Naruto answered making Kakashi growl.

"Hey! I was the one who started putting my Hitai-ate over my eye! You're the copycat!"

"How do I know that's true? I've never seen you without your ANBU mask!" Naruto shouted back making Kakashi growl again.

"That's it! Both of us can't have this if we're on the same team! We'll settle this with Rock-paper-scissor!"

"Alright! Prepare to go down!" Naruto answered and got into position.

"JANKEN!" they both shouted at the same time and shot out with their hands.

Kakashi: Rock

Naruto: Scissor

"Damn." Naruto muttered and slumped on the ground while Kakashi, being the cool jounin he is, just smiled while in his head, he was doing a victory dance.

He cleared his throat. "Okay. Meet me on training ground 7 tomorrow for the real genin exam." he said making the three go wide eyed.

"But sensei! We've already had our genin exam." Kiba said while Shikamaru yawned.

"Yes but that exam was to weed out those who weren't cut out to be a shinobi. Only nine out of the 27 graduates will become genin." Kakashi said making Kiba go wide eyed, Shikamaru... yawned again and Naruto pulled his Hitai-ate up with a frown.

"Now meet me there tomorrow at 5 am. Oh and don't eat breakfast or you'll puke." Kakashi said before poofing away.

"Well, I guess I'll see you all tomorrow then. See ya." Naruto said before also poofing away.

Next day, 9 am.

"Where is that bastard?!" Kiba shouted in rage. They had been waiting for Kakashi for four hours.

"Yo!" Kakashi said as he came into view.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Kiba shouted while Kakashi just smiled an eye smile.

"Ah, sorry. You see, I had to save a couple of children from a burning building and when I was done I saw that I had burnt my clothes so I had to go change." he said with that smile still on his face.

"That... excuse... was so lame that it's not even funny." Naruto said with a sweatdrop.

"Alright, let's start. Your mission is to take these from me." Kakashi said and held up two bells. "Whoever doesn't get a bell gets tied up to one of those logs and has to watch the others eat lunch. You'll also get sent back to the academy."

"But sensei, there's only two bells." Naruto said while Kakashi just smiled.

"Yup! That means that at least one of you has to go back to the academy. Now remember that you have to come at me with the intent to kill or you'll not even get close to me."

Naruto smirked. "I can do that."

"Good! Now the clock is set for noon." Kakashi said and set an alarm clock on one of the logs. "Start!" he said and immediatly everyone scattered. Well, everyone except Kiba. Kiba got his ass royally wooped. Literally. He had to experience what no man should ever have to experience. Sennen Goroshi (One thousand years of pain). Meanwhile Naruto was confused.

'How does he expect genins to beat him?'

**"You can beat him."**

'But I know Hiraishin, Rasengan and have bionic bodyparts.' Naruto thought back while Megami nodded in his mind.

**"Maybe this test has some hidden meaning?"** Megami said making Naruto go wide eyed.

'Yes of course! But what?'

**"You'll figure it out Naruto-kun."** Megami said with a yawn. **"I'm going to sleep. Tell me how it worked out later."**

'You know, I'm still not quite used to a giant fox with a male voice calling me Naruto-kun.'

**"Okay then, how about **this?" came Megamis voice that changed into a feminine and very seductive voice.

'Narutos eyes widened. 'Woah! How did you do that?'

"That's for me to know and you to find out Naruto-kun." Megami said before closing their mental connection. Naruto shook his head to clear that very seductive voice out of his head before he went off to find Shikamaru. He found him sleeping next to a tree.

"Oy Shikamaru." Naruto said and kicked Shikamaru in the ribs waking him up.

"What's so important that you had to disturb me from my sleep?" Shikamaru asked with a glare.

"You're smart. There's gotta be some hidden meaning to this test. I just can't figure it out." Naruto said making Shikamaru smirk.

"Oh? It's about time you came to that conclusion. I was waiting for someone to come to me." he told Naruto whos eyes widened.

"You know what the meaning to this test is?" Naruto asked and Shikamaru nodded.

"Teamwork." he said simple and closed his eyes while Naruto pondered for a while before snapping his fingers.

"Of course! Let's go get Kiba!" Naruto said and started dragging a reluctant Shikamaru with him. They found him sitting next to a tree, nursing his aching ass.

"Oy Kiba! We know what this test is about. We gotta work together." Naruto said from behind him scaring the shit out of Kiba.

"I don't need your help. I can beat him all by myself." Kiba said arrogantly. Naruto groaned.

"Kiba! Open your eyes! You're a wet behind the ears genin and he's a former ANBU captain! He kicked your ass without even having to use his Sharingan!" Naruto said and Shikamaru nodded.

"He's right Kiba. Even with your and Akamarus help it isn't enough but we just have to keep him still for a moment until we can grab the bells." Shikamaru said and Kiba nodded.

"Fine but if I fail because of you I'm going to make our next academy year a living hell." he said and Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Okay, here's what we're gonna do." Shikamaru said and revealed his plans. All thirty of them.

Thirty minutes later Kakashi found Naruto standing in a clearing looking smug.

"You know, the basics of a ninja is stealth." Kakashi said while Naruto smirked.

"I don't need stealth to beat you. I also know the true meaning of this test but I don't need my teammates to beat you either." he said making Kakashi severly disappointed.

"That's foolish of you Naruto. I thought you could be a good ninja but I guess I was wrong. I guess I'll have to beat teamwork into your head." he said and got into a fighting stance.

"You can try." was all he said before disappearing from view. He reappeared behind Kakashi and came at him with a vicious axe kick. Kakashi raised his arm to block. He could feel his bones creaking when his arms connected with the solid metal in Narutos right leg. Naruto put his left foot on Kakashis arms in midair and pushed off, backflipping safely onto the ground.

Kakashi started shaking off the pain in his arms. "That's some kick you got there."

Naruto smiled. "Thanks. Want another?" he asked and charged again, this time appearing on the ground infront of Kakashi delivering another axe kick that forced him to jump back.

'It'll be a cold day in hell before I try to block another one of his kicks.' Kakashi thought as he jumped away. The axe kick connected with the ground, forming a small crater. He came at Kakashi again with a flurry of kicks and punches, forcing him back until he was nine feet away from the trees in the forest. All of a sudden Naruto stopped attacking. 'What the-' was all Kakashi could think before finding himself frozen to the ground.

"We passed the test sensei." Naruto said with a smirk.

"I thought you said that you didn't need your teammates." Kakashi said calmly as he started breaking out of the Kage Mane (Shadow mimicry).

"The key for a ninja is stealt and deception right?" Naruto said making Kakashi smile as he broke out of the Kage Mane.

"Yeah but you spent to much time talking. You didn't get the bells." Kakashi said before a new voice was heard. Kakashi turned to his right and saw Kiba and Akamaru sitting on the ground, Akamaru with two bells in his mouth.

"Our plan was for Naruto to make you think that he was arrogant enough to go up against a former ANBU captain so you wouldn't think of searching for us. Then Naruto would use his superior strength thanks to his bionic parts to force you back close enough for me to catch you in my Kage Mane while Akamaru grabbed the bells when Naruto was talking to you." Shikamaru said as he came out into the clearing. "It's really troublesome. I thought of thirty plans we could use when we only needed one."

Kakashi smiled at his team. "You pass." he said and led them to the memorial stone. "Do you know what this is?" he asked and Naruto nodded.

"Yeah. That's the heros memorial stone. For people who were KIA. My dads name is there." he said and pointed at the name Namikaze Minato before he pointed at Uchiha Obito. "And I'm guessing this is how you got your Sharingan.

Kakashi nodded. "Yeah, how did you know?"

"When Sarutobi-sensei told me that you were a student of my father I decided to look up his other student to see if anyone could tell me what he was like. It said in the folder that Uchiha Obito was KIA on a mission and that you somehow aquired your Sharingan on that mission." he said and shrugged. "I just put two and two together."

"Yes. Obito was the class dobe while I was the 'clan genius'. He was actually alot smarter than me since he taught me something. 'Those who doesn't obey the rules are trash but those who abandon their teammates are worse than trash'. Take that to your heart. There's nothing more important than teamwork. Now go home and get something to eat. Tomorrow we begin doing missions. Dismissed." he said before poofing away to go read his book. The three newly promoted genins looked at eachother with a smile before heading off.

Three weeks and 42 D-rank missions later.

they had just come back from capturing Tora the cat. Team 7 was the only team ever assigned that mission since Naruto could easily locate Tora with his eye and somehow managed to gain the cats trust. He was now considered a hero among the shinobi population since at almost every ninja at least once have had to capture that cat and never gotten out of the mission without a scratch.

When Naruto saw the fire lords wife hug the cat to near death he got alittle upset.

"Excuse me Shijimi-obasan. I think I know why Tora runs away all the time." he said getting her and his teammates' attention.

"Oh? Please tell me." she said politely.

"You treat him like a plushie. He's a living animal and what you're doing could be considered animal abuse." he said getting a grateful look from the cat when Lady Shijimi loosened her deathgrip on the cat. "It's not meant as an insult or anything but you're hurting the cat."

"I am?" she asked and held up Tora ifront of her. Tora hissed and tried to claw her face. "Oh I'm no good with animals. What did that mean?" she asked making everyone sweatdrop.

"It meant that he doesn't like you. When cats purr and come to you willingly, that means they like you. If they hiss and try to scratch you, that means they don't like you. You can still make up for it. Spoil him with gifts and don't hug him. Only pet him softly." Naruto said and looked at the cat who was drooling and staring at the ceiling dreamy eyed.

"Thanks for the tip Naruto-Oi." Shijimi said with a smile and paid for the mission. "But if you're wrong and this doesn't work then you'll have to clean our entire house." she said with a smirk.

"Fine." Naruto said before Shijimi left.

"Umm Naruto? Why did you call her your aunt?" Kiba asked shocked.

"Because she is my aunt through marriage. She's my fathers brothers wife." Naruto answered, shocking his two teammates further.

"The fire lord is your uncle?!" Kiba shouted and sat down in shock. "I don't believe this... His father is the Yondaime and his uncle is the fire lord..."

"By the way Naruto-kun. Chiyo sent a letter. She says that she has an upgrade for you. That's why I'm giving you this A-rank mission to Suna. You have to take this scroll" Sarutobi said and handed a scroll to Kakashi. "to the Kazekage. It's of most importance that he gets it. I know you may think that you're too inexperienced for a A-rank but the rank is based on the importance of the scroll." he said and Kakashi nodded.

"Got it. Let's go team. Pack up and meet me at the gates in thirty minutes." Kakashi said before poofing away.

Thirty minutes later they were all standing at the gates. Even Kakashi. They had attacked him at first thinking he was an imposter but believed him when he said that he's never late for an important mission.

Two days passed with them only beating down thugs who thought it'd be a good idea to rob them. The last day went by without much trouble at all except Kiba complaining about sand in his ears.

They were let into Suna when they showed them the scroll and were led to the Kazekage tower.

"Ah! You're Team 7 right?" Kazekage said when they entered his office. At their nod he continued. "Then I need a Uzumaki Naruto to step forward." Naruto nodded and stepped forward. "Hokage-don sent a message that you'd show up and that Chiyo-baasama wanted to see you." he said and gestured for a jounin standing in the corner of the office. "This is Baki. He will lead you to her living quarters."

Baki stepped up and grabbed Narutos soulder before disappearing in a swirl of sand. They appeared at the foot of a long stairway leading to a house on top of what looked like a mountain. "She lives up there." he said simply before turning around to leave.

"Then why couldn't you take me up there immediatly?" Naruto asked while Baki frowned.

"Ebizou-jiisama is our villages greatest seal master. He has constructed a seal that keeps anyone from being able to shunshin any closer than this. Well have fun climbing those stairs!" he said with a smirk before vanishing again.

"Naruto just muttered a "Bastard." before starting the long climb. He came to the top and entered the house.

He entered a circular room with a patch of water in the middle. There were two elder sitting around the water with fishing poles. One of which was Chiyo.

"Yo! Chiyo-baasama!" Naruto said as he entered the room. the male of the two elders, who Naruto assumed was Ebizou, looked up when Naruto entered the room. Naruto walked up to Chiyo who didn't respond. "Ano... Chiyo-baasama?" he asked and ran a hand infront of her face. No response. She had her eyes opened half and looked kind of dead. "Are you dead?"

All of a sudden she opened her eyes fully and shouted a "BOO!" scaring the shit out of Naruto. She cackled evilly. "Ku ku ku. I still got it." Then se saw who it was. "Oh! It's my little project! Come for the upgrade have you?" she asked making Ebizou raise one of his overly long eyebrows.

"Nee-chan. What are you talking about?" he asked only to be ignored.

"Good, good!" she cackled and puled out a knife. The old man nearly had a heart atack when she started run the knife a lap around Narutos arm at the elbow. She then made a vertical cut down his arm before forcefully pulling the skin off his arm. (Think of how Arnold did when he showed his arm in Terminator 2)

"Nee-chan! What are you doing?!" Ebizou shouted shocked out of his mind. He was surprised to see that the boy had a metal arm under the skin and flesh. "Nee-chan?"

Chiyo looked at Ebizou for a moment before smiling. "Oh Ebizou! This is my pet project Uzumaki Naruto." she said hapily and pointed at Naruto who frowned.

"Chiyo-baasama please. Don't call me a project." he said but was saddened to realize that she wasn't even listening.

"Now come!" she said and pulled him into another room where she had a whole bunch of metal parts.

"You really want to turn me into a full machine don't you?" Naruto asked getting a nod from the old woman.

"Yes of course!" she said and went to the other side of the room and picked up a metal cylinder. "Now this is a great upgrade! It's a chakra cannon!" she exclaimed and pulled Naruto to a work table. "What's your element?"

"Umm, wind and fire." Naruto answered getting an evil cackle from the woman.

"Oh perfect! Now sit still and this'll be over in a second." she said and started tinkering with Narutos arm.

After fifteen minutes of tinkering she was done and Naruto had his metal cylinder attached in the middle arm.

Chiyo pointed at a couple of hinges attached to the clinder. "See this hinges? Pump chakra into them." she told Naruto who complied. When he pumped chakra into the hinges they pushed the cylinder until it rested on top of his arm (Kinda like the super droids in Star Wars only there is just one canon). "Good. Now compress your wind chakra into a ball and push it through the cannon. But point it at the floor." she ordered and Naruto once again complied. He pointed it at the floor and pushed his ball of wind through the cylinder.

The results were amazing. The ball was launched through the canon at an extremely high speed, resulting in it cutting through the floor into the floor below them, barely missing a scared out of his mind Ebizou.

Naruto looked at Chiyo with a smile. "This is awesome!" he shouted getting a smile out of the old woman.

"I know! Now go. I'll let you know if I make anymore upgrades." Chiyo said and motioned for Naruto to leave. "You can shunshin out of the building but not into the building." she said and Naruto nodded before covering up his arm with a cloth and using shunshin to get back to the Kazekages office where Kakashi and the others were waiting.

When he got back his teammates noticed the cloth but didn't say anything when Naruto gave them a 'I'll tell you later' look.

"Ah, Naruto-san. I trust your visit went well? Chiyo-baasama is known to be a little... Well, she doesn't have all the cards in her deck if you know what I mean?" Kazekage said getting a nod from Naruto.

"Oh yeah. I know what you mean." Naruto said and shuddered. "She's a little" he said and made a whistling sound and made a screwing motion with his finger against his head. "But it went well."

"May I ask how you know her?" Kazekage asked politely.

Naruto decided to lie since he didn't want anyone outside of Konoha to know of his bionic limbs. "Well, four years ago I got poisoned by a rare poison that we couldn't cure so Sarutobi-sensei called for Chiyo-baasama to help. It took a whole lot of pleading but we eventually got her to help." he said and the Kazekage nodded.

"Okay. Well I guess I've held you up long enough. You should hurry back to Konoha with this." Kazekage said and handed Kakashi a scroll. Kakashi nodded and grabbed Kiba by the shoulder while Naruto grabbed Shikamaru by the shoulder and shunshined to the gates.

Once they were about three miles into Fire country Kiba decided to ask. "Hey Naruto. What was the upgrade?" he asked getting nods from his other teammate and sensei.

"Yes, I would also like to know that." Kakashi said while Naruto grinned and pulled the cloth of his arm.

"Look at this." he said and pushed chakra into the hinges revealing the chakra cannon.

"What the hell is that?" Kiba asked making Naruto grin even more.

"I'll show you. See that tree?" he asked and pointed at a tree at their nods he grinned like a Chesire cat. "Not for long."

He took aim at the tree and compressed a ball of fire chakra into the cannon. He fired the bullet into the tree. There was an explosion. Once all the smoke had cleared the only thing left of the tree were some burnt splinters.

Naruto just started walking away casually, leaving his stunned teammates and sensei behind.

"That's some firepower Naruto-kun." came Megamis voice in his head.

'Yeah I know. Hey can you heal the my arm again? But leave a patch of skin so I don't have to cut up my arm everytime I wanna use my cannon.' he thought and got a mental nod from Megami as she got to work. He covered up his arm with the cloth again before turning to his team. "Hey are you guys coming or are you just gonna stand there looking stupid?!"

The three shook their heads to clear the shock before following Naruto.

'He has an eye implant with two attributes from the Sharingan and Byakkugan, night vision, heat vison AND bionic legs and an arm with a cannon.' Kakashi thought in despair. He was no longer the most unique person on the team.

They got back to Konoha safely without any trouble.

Three days later Naruto had been training and was walking around Konoha when he saw Kurenai with her team walking towards the Hokage tower which was behind him. She looked hopeful when she saw him.

'Maybe I can get a chance to talk to him now.' she thought but was disappointed when he jumped up on the roof of a building and started roof hopping to his home which was the Namikaze compound. 'Damn it!'

Three more days passed with Naruto and his team going back to D-rank missions. That night there was a knock on his door. He opened it and saw Kurenai standing in the rain looking like a wreck. He immediatly extracted his claws, got into a defensive stance and started flooding his KI. "What do you want?" he asked with venom in his voice.

"I want to apologize." she said with her head down. Naruto grabbed her by the neck and pushed her up against the wall with his claws at her stomach.

"And is that gonna make it better?!" Naruto snarled at her with a raised eyebrow. "Is apologizing gonna give me my arm, legs and eye back?!"

"No..." she whispered.

"What?"

"No. Not for you." she answered louder this time.

"Not for me? Then for who?"

"For me. I can't sleep anymore. My best friend doesn't wanna talk to me and I've lost the respect of my co workers. I just want everything to stop." she said with tears in her eyes.

"So you want me to forgive you because you suffer? Not because you feel guilty about leaving me a cripple who could only become a ninja by turning half of my body into metal?!" Naruto snarled and poked her in the stomach with his claws.

She nodded. "Of course I feel guilty! Otherwise I wouldn't have shown up here!"

"And how can I know that?! How do I know that you not just trying to get close enough to finish the job?" Naruto asked glaring at her with his metal eye. "Look at what you did to me. I can't forgive you. You don't know what it's like to live like this. Get off my property." he said and let her go letting her slump down on the ground before he went back into his house.

"I felt no lies coming from her." Megami told Naruto who sat down in a chair in his livingroom.

'Neither did I.' Naruto said with his eyes closed.

"Did you have to be so cold?" Megami asked before realizing what they were talking about. "Never mind."

'Megami-chan. A part of me wants to forgive her while another part of me wants to do the eye for an eye thing.' he thought with a groan. 'I just don't know what to do.'

"Find out why she did it. Find out how far she's willing to go to earn your forgivness." Megami said making Naruto snap his eyes open.

'I can do that.' he thought before getting up.

He opened the door and found her in the same spot she was in before he left.

"There's one way I can forgive you." he said making her raise her head to look at him.

"Really?! How?" she asked while he took out a kunai.

"Walk a thousand miles in my shoes." he said letting her know what he meant.

'He wants to cut off my limbs.'

_'You've brought it upon youself'_ said the voice in her head.

Naruto crouched down next to her and placed the kunai at her left knee. "So? Do you want me to forgive you?"

Kurenai sat there for a while before closing her eyes. "Yes."

Naruto stared at her for a while before sighing. "You're forgiven. It doesn't mean I like you but you're forgiven at least." he said before going back in leaving Kurenai to just stare at the door.

* * *

**How do you like it. He's forgiven her since she was ready to lose her arm, eye and legs for his forgivness. Like he said, he doesn't like her, just forgiven her. Tell me what you think of it.**

**R&R!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Sorry for taking so long. My mom cut off my internet connection. But it's cool now.**

**Now about Narutos cannon. On the side is a chakra gauge. It shows how much chakra you pump into the cannon. Naruto has never tried more than half... Yet. **It had been a week since Naruto forgave Kurenai and he hadn't seen her. That day when they came into the Hokages office they saw Team 8 standing infront of the Hokages desk.

"Ah! Team 7. Just the team I wanted to see." Sarutobi said when they entered his office. "I have a joint C-rank for you here with Team 8 here." he said and gestured for Team 8. Naruto and Kurenai looked at each other for a swift moment before Naruto looked away.

"So what's the mission?" he asked Sarutobi who smiled.

"You're going to protect this bridge builder, Tazuna." he said and shouted at the door. "You can come in now!"

In through the door came an old man with a bottle of sake in his hand and a ugly ass hat.

"These people are supposed to protect me? They're just kids!" he shouted and pointed at Naruto. "And that brat only has one eye!" and at the moment he said that the room temperature went down several degrees. In a second Naruto was infront of him with his claws at the mans neck.

"You'd be wise not to insult me old man." he said with a growl. "It might just get you killed."

The man, who was by now sweating bullets, nodded slowly. "O-Okay."

"Good." Naruto said slowly before removing his claws.

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Don't worry Tazuna-san. They can handle a few bandits. And even if they can't, Kurenai and I are jounin. We can protect you." he said before turning to his team. "Okay guys. Meet at the gates in... twenty minutes?" he asked and looked at Kurenai who nodded.

"Sounds good." she said and Tazuna nodded before leaving.

"Well, see you guys then." Kakashi said and poofed away. Team 7 started to leave but Naruto stayed behind and turned to Team 8.

"That means fifty minutes." he said and left the office.

True to Narutos words Kakashi showed up at the gates fifty minutes later at the same time as Naruto and his teammates.

After walking for two hours they saw a whole gang of about fifty men with swords and other pointy objects running towards them screaming obscenities.

Naruto looked at Kakashi before forcing chakra into his arm making his cannon appear.

"You think I can take them all in one shot?" he asked and charged chakra into his cannon. Kakashis eye widened when he looked at the chakra gauge.

"Full! You've never fully charged it before!" he shouted making Naruto smile and look at him.

"I know. But some time's gotta be the first." he said and aimed at the thugs. "They're not very smart, charging people head on like that, are they?"

"Nope." Kakashi said in a bored tone. "Fire." he said and Naruto released the chakra in his canon. The bullet traveled faster than Kakashi could follow and impacted perfectly in the middle of the thugs 80 ft away. The explosion was so grand that they could feel the heat even from an 80 ft distance. The shockwave blew the genins, Tazuna and Kurenai, who hadn't been prepared for a blast that big, off their feet.

When all was over Kakashi looked at Naruto.

"A tip. Next time you charge it fully-" he started but was interrupted by Naruto.

"Use wind, yeah I know." he said with wide eyes, frozen in the same position he was in when he fired.

Only fifteen minutes later they encountered two chunnin missing-nins who called themselves the 'Demon brothers'. They were stopped by Shikamarus Kage Mane and immobilized by Kibas Tsuuga (Piercing Fang) and Choujis Nikudan Sensha (Meat tank).

They found out that they were hired to kill Tazuna, making the mission B- to A-rank, based on the skill level of any upcoming nin they may meet.

They continued walking for two hours before they decided to set up camp.

Naruto was having that dream again. The nightmare from four years ago.

"What the hell!" Megami shouted from her cage. "I thought I locked those dreams away!" she said to herself before she got back to work, trying to push those dreams away.

Kurenai had guard duty when she saw Naruto writhing in his sleep. He started groaning and cupped his hand over his left eye. Kurenai knew what he was dreaming about. She walked up to him and shook him awake. He sat up with a jolt, extracted his claws (Extracted? Is that how you say it?) and placed them at Kurenais neck. He looked at her with wide eyes and blinked a few times before realizzing what he was doing. He retracted his claws and muttered a sorry.

Kurenai, now over her shock, shook her head. "No I'm sorry. I shouldn't have woken you up like that."

Naruto just sat there staring at the fire. "You dreamt about that night didn't you?" she asked getting a nod from Naruto.

"What was going through your head?" he asked making Kurenai raise an eyebrow.

"What?"

"What was going through your head when you did... _it_?" he asked letting her know what he meant.

"I don't know... I had been drinking that night and only thought about my parents. And we all believed so strongly that you were the demon. I just wanted peace. I only got more pain though." she said and Naruto nodded slowly.

She was on the verge of tears by then and Naruto decided to cheer her up.

"I may miss my original limbs... But at least now I have these really cool blades and a cannon of mass destruction." he said with a grin making Kurenai giggle alittle.

'Meh. It was better than a frown.' he thought with a mental shrug.

"Have you started warming up to her Naruto-kun?" Megami asked in his mind.

'Maybe, I don't know.'

"What do you mean you don't know? How hard is it to know?"

'I don't know! It's confusing! One moment I want to gut her like a fish and the next I want to get to know her better. What do I do!' he asked and grasped his head in despair making Kurenai raise an eyebrow.

"What's wrong?" she asked making Naruto jump in shock. He had forgot she was there.

"Hmm? Nothing. I was uh... just thinking." he said and Kurenai narrowed her eyes.

"No you weren't what were you really doing?"

"I was... talking to Megami." he said not really caring about what she'd do

"Megami?"

"Kyuubi.".

"You can talk to it?" she asked.

"Her."

"What?"

"I can talk to _her_." he said and told her everything Megami had told him. He didn't know why he told her everything. He just did.

"So Kyuubi... Megami, wasn't responsible for the attack?"

"Not directly. She attacked but she wasn't in control." Naruto answered. "She isn't really that bad. She was the one who brought me out of my coma, gave me useful tips during training, helped me grow and gave me this really cool hair color." he said and ran a hand through his hair making Kurenai giggle.

"So why haven't you told anyone about it?" she asked Naruto who raised an eyebrow.

"Would anyone believe me?"

"No, I guess they wouldn't."

"Well." Naruto said and stood up. "It's been nice talking to you but I think I need to get some shut eye. I don't really need it but I really like sleeping." he said making Kurenai giggle again.

"Yeah, I think it's about time for Kakashis shift." Kurenai said and got up to wake Kakashi while Naruto got into his sleeping bag.

"Good night."

"Good night."

The next day they were on their way to Wave. Naruto was in the rear with Kurenai talking.

"Hey. I thought you were demoted to chunnin." Naruto said. "When did you become a jounin again?"

"I took the jounin exams three days after I got out of prison. Though I still have to work getting chunnin pay for six more months. I've wanted to be a jounin sensei since I was 15 so I don't really care about the pay." she told Naruto who nodded.

"How were you allowed to take the exams?" he asked and Kurenai shrugged.

"I don't know. I was sure Hokage-sama wouldn't allow me to take the exams but he did." she answered before deciding to ask him a question. "Why did you not want me dead?"

"What?"

"Hokage-sama told me before he put me in jail that I had you to thank for not being executed. I took away your chanses of living a normal life. Why did you ask him not to kill me?"

By this time their conversation had caught the attention of their co travelers. Naruto shrugged.

"I don't know. I guess I didn't want your death on my conscience. It was unnecessary."

At this time Kakashi decided to make himself heard. "Well, as good as it is seeing you two bond like that, I need you to keep your focus on the mission at- GET DOWN!" he shouted and grabbed Tazuna and Kiba and pulled them to the ground while the others dove to the ground in time for a huge sword to come swinging through the air before lodging itself into a tree.

"Big." Naruto said getting up as a man landed on the sword.

"Really big." Kiba said as he too got up with the rest of the group.

Naruto leaned in and 'whispered' to Kiba loud enough for the man to hear. "You think he's trying to compensate for something?" he asked making Kiba and Kakashi snicker while a tick formed in the mans forehead.

"Hey who do you think you are insulting me like that Gaki? You have a death wish?" he asked and jumped down grabbing his sword, dislodging it from the tree before landing on the ground.

"No but you probably do. I don't care who you are, unless you are an S-rank nin you either gotta be really brave or really stupid going up against the Copy Nin Kakashi, Konohas Genjutsu specialist and six clan heirs." Naruto said making the man raise an eyebrow.

"Oh? Copy Ninja Kakashi huh? No wonder the demon brothers and those thugs Gato hired lost."

"No." Kakashi said shaking his head. "Naruto here took care of the thugs and Kiba and Chouji took care of the demon brothers." he said before lifting his Hitai-ate. "Stay out of this guys."

Zabuza smirked and performed a few seals. "Ninpou: Kirigakure no jutsu (Ninja arts: Hidden mist technique)." he said and a thick mist started rolling in. The mist was so thick that you couldn't see further than 6 ft infront of you after Kakashi sent out a wave of chakra to disperse some of it.

Kakashi turned to Naruto. "Naruto. Where is he?" he asked and Naruto activated his eye and set it for heat vision.

He stod there looking around and saw him just standing next to the lake while a shadow, slightly warmer than the air around them, moved between them and Tazuna. Narutos eyes widened. "Behind!" he shouted and extracted his claws and stabbed the Mizu bunshin (Water clone).

"Oh? The brat is pretty good Kakashi." came Zabuzas voice from behind Kakashi. Naruto decided not to say anything since he saw that Kakashi was just a Mizu bunshin. Zabuza cut through Kakashi and got wide eyed.

'What! He copied it through the mist?' he thought as a kunai was placed at his neck.

"It's over." Kakashi said with a smirk.

"Sensei! That's just a bunshin! He's behind you!" Naruto shouted making Kakashi go wide eyed. He destroyed the Mizu bunshin and ducked under a sword swing. He looked up just in time for a powerful kick to connect with his face, sending him flying into the lake.

Kakashi got up and looked at the water. "It's heavy." he said as Zabuza appeared behind him.

"Heh, foolish." he said and performed some seals. "Suiro no jutsu (Water prison technique)." he said and a dome of water appeared around Kakashi, trapping him.

"Get out of here! This fight ended the second I got caught!" Kakashi shouted when Zabuza made a Mizu Bunshin.

The bunshin walked up to shore and looked at Kurenai. "Konohas Genjutsu mistress Yuuhi Kurenai huh? Well there's nothing you can do. I have better Ninjutsu and Taijutsu than you and there hasn't been a Genjutsu yet that I haven't been able to dispel." he said with a smirk. Naruto lost his temper and charged Zabuza from the air with his claws. Zabuza just smirked before reaching into the air and grabbing Naruto around the throat.

"Naruto!" Kiba and Shikamaru shouted in unison when Zabuza grabbed him.

"That was foolish of you." Zabuza said throwing Naruto to the ground and stepping on his chest. "Stupid little wannabe ninja. That's what's wrong with Konoha. You're too soft. You don't teach your kids what the real world is like. Nowadays these stupid brats don't even think about that they may die. They're just charging in trying to be heroes." he said with a smirk that Naruto mimicked.

He looked up at Zabuza who had his foot on his chest. "This was all part of my plan." he said making Zabuza raise an eyebrow. Naruto extracted his cannon, charged it with a small fire shot and aimed at Zabuzas head. "Surprise fuckface." he said and fired. Zabuzas head was blasted into a puddle of water.

Naruto got up and started sqeezing the water out of his clothes. "Asshole."

Zabuza just stood on the water, holding Kakashis prison with wide eyes. "What the hell is this kid?"

Naruto turned around with a smile. "I'm your death." he said and fired at real Zabuza.

Zabuzas eyes widened and he ducked under the bullet but found that he had to jump over another one.

After firing fifteen shots Naruto got tired. "Damn it! Fuck it! Time to whip out the big guns." he said before taking out a three pronged kunai without the ring at the end and placing it in the barrel of his cannon.

Kakashis eyes widened when he saw the kunai.

Naruto smirked. "Here's another surprise." he said and extracted his claws before firing the kunai above Zabuzas head. The moment the kunai flew past Zabuzas head Naruto disappeared in a flash of red. He appeared behind Zabuza who reacted just in time to only get a shallow cut in his back instead of getting cut in half.

Back on shore Kurenais eyes widened. "H-Hiraishin." she said making the oter genins look at her.

"What?"

"Hiraishin is the technique Yondaime-sama used to earn his nickname the 'Yellow Flash'." Kurenai said while looking at the spot where Naruto had appeared. "He singlehandedly won the war against Iwa with it." she said making the genins eyes widen as well.

"And Naruto knows it?" Kiba asked more to himself than anyone else.

"Blast off." Naruto said with a smile and formed a Rasengan in his right hand before slamming it into the water, sending a huge wave of water slamming into Zabuza, forcing him back into a tree. Once there he received a kunai to each limb, courtesy of Kakashi who sat on a tree branch with a kunai in hand.

"It's time for you to die." he said and held up the kunai when two senbons came flying into Zabuzas neck.

"Well will you look at that. He did die." said a voice from another tree. Looking over there they saw a boy, slightly older than the genins, sitting on a tree branch wearing a Kiri hunter-nin mask. "Thank you for wounding him for me. I've been searching for him for a very long time." he said and disappeared in a swirl of mist before appearing next to Zabuza. "I must dispose of this body for it holds many sectrets. Farewell." and with that he disappeared with Zabuzas body.

Naruto turned to Kakashi with a smile. "That ended well didn't i-" he started but froze before falling unconsious to the ground.

"NARUTO!" Kiba and Shikamaru shouted in unison before Kakashi waved to them.

"It's alright guys, he just suffers from chakra exhaustion. He'll be fi-" was all he managed to say before he to slumped unconsious to the ground.

"Well then. Let's take them to Tazuna-sans house." Kurenai said and slung Kakashis arm over her shoulder. "Kiba, you take Naruto."

Naruto woke up the next day in a room lying in a futon five feet away from Kakashi who was out cold. He got up and followed the scent of bacon and came into a kitchen where Team 8, Team 7, Tazuna, an unknown woman and a kid were sitting around a table.

Kibas eyes widened when he saw Naruto standing in the doorway. "Naruto!" he shouted making the others aware of the blonde. "You're awake! Kurenai-sensei said that it would be longer."

"Well, I've always recovered quickly." Naruto said with a smile and took a step forward. That's as far as he got though before he fell to the ground. "Uh oh." was all he managed to say before his face collided with the floor.

"Naruto!" Shikamaru shouted and ran up to him with Kiba and helped him to the table. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine. My legs just have a hard time working again after chakra exhaustion." Naruto said as he sat down. "It takes a while for the chakra to fill the systems again." he said and held up his arm. "Look."

He pumped chakra into his arm to try and show them his cannon but it got stuck halfway. "My arm and legs suck chakra like crazy trying to restore the chakra thats gone. Give me one more nigt and I'll be as good as new." he said with a smile. He was introduced to the woman and the boy. The womans name was Tsunami and the boys name was Inari. Inari just up and left the table when Kurenai mentioned a picture on the wall. They were told that the man who was torn from the picture was the hero of Wave who was publicly executed by Gatou.

Kakashi and Kurenai started teaching Team 8 and team 7 excluding Naruto the tree climbing exercise while Naruto guarded Tazuna.

One week later they were sitting around the dinner table when Inari decided to ask a question.

"Why do you do it?" he asked making everyone look at him. "Why do you try so hard! You're all just going to get killed anyway! You can never stop Gatou!"

"Says who?" Naruto asked. "So what? You're all just gonna cower under the table and cry?" he asked and walked up to Inari. "You're pathetic. I'll show you you little brat. I'll kill Gatou and put his head right on that table." he growled and pointed at the table before leaving the house.

Kakashi came into the kitchen on his crutches. He looked at the other nins. "He's gonna do something stupid isn't he?"

"Yep." Kiba said slowly while nodding.

"What do we do?" Kurenai asked looking at Kakashi.

"Our mission is to protect Tazuna and that we shall. I know Naruto, he's not gonna do anything too stupid. I hope." he said before sitting down.

"So we're not gonna go after him or something?" Chouji asked and Kakashi shook his head.

"No. If he does do something stupid and ends up in a dangerous situation he can't handle he'll just come to us with this." he said and held up a three pronged kunai. "He gave it to me and told me to throw it on the ground if I needed help or if we got separated on a mission."

Naruto was running through the forest when he smelled the hunter nin from before. He looked through the trees and saw a boy who looked like a girl walking through the forest with a basket of medicinal herbs.

"That's Zabuzas accomplice." Megami said in Narutos head.

'I know.' Naruto thought with a nod.

"So what are you gonna do?"

'What do you think? Follow him.'

After following the boy for ten minutes the boy just disappeared, only to appear behind Naruto with a senbon at his neck.

"Why are you following me?" he asked making Naruto smirk.

"To find Zabuza and in turn find Gatou." he said from behind the boy making his eyes widen.

"What? When did you?" the boy asked and quickly turned around to stab Naruto only for him to poof away.

"Gotcha." Naruto said with a kunai at the boys throat and his claws at his back. "Now where is Zabuza?"

"I won't tell you anything."

Naruto sighed. "Damn... Then I have to go by the scent... Oh well, then I don't need you." he said before driving his claws into the boys back. When the boy gasped Naruto ran his knife across the boys throat.

"That was... brutal." Megami said when the boy hit the ground.

'You know you liked it.'

"I did."

'Shit. Now I have to find track the boys scent.' Naruto thought with a sigh. He started sniffing around for about thirty seconds before he found the boys scent. He followed the trail back to a huge house deep inside the forest.

'Hmm. Two guards outside... You think Gatou may be inside?'

"He could be. You better check first."

'Good idea.' Naruto thought before placing a special made ring-less kunai in his cannon. He fired the kunai at one of the guards at top speed before rushing the other guard, knocking him out with a quick blow to his gut with the left arm. He dragged the unconscious guard away into the forest and tied him up against a tree.

The guard woke up ten minutes later to find Naruto sitting in front of him, watching him lazily.

"Yo."

"W-Who are you!" the guard exclaimed making Naruto smile.

"That depends."

"Depends on what?"

"Depends on whether you answer my questions or not. If you give me a bad or no answer I'm your enemy. If you give me the answer I want, I'm your friend."

"What questions?"

"Well..." Naruto said and put a hand to his chin. "First of all, is Gatou inside that house?"

"Yes." the guard said making Naruto smile.

"Good! Now that's the kind of answer that makes me your friend. Second question. Is Zabuza in that house?"

"Yes. He's in bed and can't move."

"Very good! Now last question. Are there any civilians in there?"

"No."

Naruto smiled and got up. "Those answers made me your friend. And as your friend it hurts me to do this." Naruto said and rammed his claws into the mans face.

"Did it really hurt you to do that?" Megami asked with a mental raised eyebrow.

'Not really.' Naruto said with a shrug. 'They're all murderers and thieves. They don't deserve pity.'

"That's not what you said about Kurenai-chan." Megami said with a playful voice.

'That's different.'

"How?"

'Well... It's... Shut up!'

"Aaah. I see. Naruto-kun likes Kurenai-chan!" Megami shouted making a vein appear in Narutos forehead.

'No I don't! The woman cut off my arm and legs!'

"And yet you haven't killed her. Ha! Naruto and Kurenai, sitting in a tree, and K-I-S-S-I-N-"

'SHUT UP!' Naruto yelled in his mind before closing the mental link with Megami. "Like I would ever kiss someone in a tree..." he muttered to himself before walking off to the house. He positioned himself about thirty yards away from the house before charging up his cannon.

He pumped it full of fire chakra and fired just as Gatou stepped out of the house.

He smirked.

"Ja Ne, Gatou." he said to himself right before the house exploded sending Gatou flying in his direction. "Oh shit!" Naruto exclaimed before ducking just in time for the short mans corpse to fly right past his head. He walked over to Gatous corpse and found that he had severe burns on his back and a crushed nose, probably from the slamming into a tree.

"Alright." Naruto said to himself and took a knife from his pouch. "Let's get this over with." and with that he started removing Gatous head from his body.

The people sitting around Tazunas dinner table almost lost control of their bladders when Naruto appeared in the room with a red flash.

"Yo!" he said with one hand in the air and the other behind his back.

"Welcome back Naruto. I'm guessing you were behind the explosion we heard a while ago?" Kakashi asked with a raised eyebrow getting a happy nod from Naruto.

"Yep! You heard it all the way over here?" he asked before whistling. "That must've been one hell of a blast. Their hideout was about three miles from here."

"So how did it go?" Kakashi asked and Naruto smiled before placing Gatous head on the table, making the occupants go wide eyed.

"Success." Naruto said with a smile before going up to his room to get some sleep.

* * *

**And I'm done. I'm going to my dadfor a whileso I won't be able to update.**

**R&R!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi again! Sorry it took so long! I'm running out of ideas, but I finally managed to get this chapter up!**

--Hokage's office--

"Naruto... Why did you go all lone wolf on that mission?" Sarutobi asked with a sigh as Team 7 and 8 stood in front of Sarutobi's desk.

"Do you want the truth or a lie?" Naruto asked, making Sarutobi sigh again.

"Guess."

Naruto nodded.

"A lie it is the-" he started, but stopped when he saw the look on Sarutobi's face. "Fine... I went lone wolf because that Inari brat pissed me off. If you're expecting an apology, I can tell you that it's not coming."

"I wouldn't expect you to apologize. I've come to learn that apologizing is something you don't do."

"Good. Then I'll just leave now." was all Naruto said before blurring away.

"Well then... Dismissed." Sarutobi said with a sigh. "But not you two." he said, looking at Kakashi and Kurenai. "The jounins have a meeting here in ten minutes. Don't be late, and I swear to Kami, if you're late, I'm gonna demote you to chunnin, Kakashi."

"Fine..." Kakashi said with a sigh and pulled out his Icha Icha Paradise, before poofing away.

--Naruto's house--

"Hey, Naruto!" Kiba shouted, banging on Naruto's door fifteen minutes later.

The door opened to reveal Naruto, without his left eye.

"Dude!" Kiba shouted in disgust, staring at the empty eye socket. "Put the eye back in!"

"Oh." Naruto said and turned around. "Sorry. I've been working on it." he said as he walked inside. "So, what do you want?"

"I just came by to tell you that Kakashi-sensei wants to meet us at the bridge in ten minutes." Kiba said, staring as Naruto picked his bionic eye off the table and plopped it back into the socket with a sickening, squelching sound. "You do realize that that's really gross, right?"

"Yep." Naruto said as he placed a small paper seal on his left temple. Suddenly, he screwed his eyes shut in pain. "Oh, god! I never get used to that."

"What are you doing?" Kiba asked as they left Naruto's apartment.

"Well, after removing my limbs, I need to reattach all the nerves and everything. Usually, I would have to form a few seals and use a technique to quickly attach them, but that's really hard when doing it to myself. That's why I've constructed this seal." Naruto said and pointed at the piece of paper stuck to his temple. "It works like the technique, but it takes a little longer. It should be done in about five minutes."

"So, what did you do to it?"

"I added X-ray." Naruto said with a grin. "Kakashi-sensei probably won't be at the bridge in a few hours, so I'm going to the hot springs."

--Hokage's office--

The Hokage stared at the shinobis present.

"Now, first we'll hear from those who are watching over the new genins." he said as he looked at the three jounins in the front. "Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma... Well? Are there any genins you would like to enter into this chunnin selection exam?"

Kakashi put away his Icha Icha and raised his hand.

"I, Hatake Kakashi, jounin sensei of Team 7, nominate my genins, Uzumaki Naruto, Nara Shikamaru and Inuzuka Kiba, for the chunnin exams." he said and Kurenai followed.

"I, Yuuhi Kurenai, jounin sensei of Team 8, nominate my genins, Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino and Akimichi Chouji, for the chunnin exams."

Asuma was next.

"I, Sarutobi Asuma, jounin sensei of Team 10, nominate my genins, Uchiha Sasuke, Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura, for the chunnin exams."

"All of them... How rare..." Sarutobi said as he puffed on his pipe.

"Hold on a sec!" Iruka exclaimed from the gathered crowd.

"What is it, Iruka?"

"Hokage-sama! Please let me have a word!" Iruka said with a strange, crazy looking expression on his face. "I may be speaking out of my place, but most of these nine were my students! Sure, they're talented, but they're not ready for the exams! They need more experience. I don't understand the jounins' reasoning."

Kakashi turned to Iruka with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you saying... That my team isn't ready?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying!" Iruka exclaimed, making Kakashi snicker.

"Iruka... Naruto has been through more than you and I put together. He's experienced more pain than most chunnins, maybe even jounins. He's the one who actually saved me from Momochi Zabuza. My team is strong enough to take down two jounins by themselves. During our training, Naruto has taken it upon himself to drill the real world into the other two, giving them more than enough experience for this exam. I may not be speaking for everyone else, but my team would actually be able to take on the jounin exams, should they want to." he said and stared Iruka dead in the eye. "So don't come telling me that they're not ready. They're soldiers under my command and I would never put them through something that they're not ready for."

Asuma and Kurenai sighed in unison.

"Hokage-sama." Asuma said as he raised his hand. "I would like to withdraw my request." he said, making the eyes of everyone in the room widen. The team with the Uchiha wasn't going to go through the exams! "Sasuke may be strong enough to go through the exams, but Sakura and Ino are not, now that I really think about the dangers of the exam... Plus, they have no sense of teamwork whatsoever. So, my team won't be participating in the exam."

"It's a pity." Kakashi said as he took out his trusty book. Sarutobi would've told him to put it away, had he not been an avid reader of it himself. "I would've wanted to see how the almighty Uchiha would fair against Naruto, 'the crippled dobe.'"

"I would've wanted to see it too, but they're not ready." Asuma said as he put his hands into his pockets.

Sarutobi turned to Kurenai.

"Kurenai. Do you want to withdraw your request?"

"No, Hokage-sama. My team is ready."

"Alright then. Dismissed." Sarutobi said calmly, while inwardly jumping around in excitement. 'Yay! The paperwork for today is done! I get to read my precious Icha Icha!'

--Team 7's meeting spot, the 'Bridge of Pervyness'--

When Kakashi arrived three hours late to the bridge, he was met by three strange sights.

Shikamaru was laying on the railing, sleeping while balancing, dangerously close to falling into the river below.

Kiba was on the ground, clutching his sides in pain while laughing his ass off.

And finally, a bandaged and bruised Naruto sitting on the opposite railing with a look that said 'I got the living shit beat outta me by angry women during their time of month.' while pecking his bionic eye with a kunai.

"Ano..." Kakashi said with a sweatdrop, before raising his hand in a greeting. "Yo..."

"You're late..." Naruto said and winced as breathing made his chest hurt.

"Ano... I got lost on the road of life...?"

"You've already used that excuse..." Shikamaru, who was now awake, said as he sat up.

"I see..." Kakashi said with the sweatdrop on his head growing bigger, before clearing his throat. "Are you... depressed about something, Naruto?"

Naruto looked at him while taking wheezing breaths.

"I realized... that... looking... in the hot springs... with my X-ray... is not good... if I'm standing right outside it... PMS:ing... women... everywhere... Next time... I'm... gonna stand... on the Hokage... Monument..."

"Right... Well, anyway... I've nominated you all for the chunnin exams." Kakashi said and took three slips of paper out of his pocket. "Here are your application forms. Though this is just a nomination. Whether or not to take the exams, is up to you. Those who wish to take the exam should sign the papers and be at the academy, room 301, tomorrow at 4pm. That is all." he said before disappearing in a poof of smoke.

Naruto stared at his paper for a while before turning to his team.

"So... what do you think... guys?"

Shikamaru scratched the back of his head.

"Mendokuse... This exam will probably be hard, but I might become a chunnin if I win. If I become a chunnin, I'll be one step closer to retirement. How about you, Naruto?"

"Well... I'm not taking it... unless you're taking it... We're a team... right? I don't wanna... become chunnin... if you don't... become chunnin..."

"Well said." Kiba said as he finally stopped laughing. "So, meet you at the academy tomorrow?"

"Yep."

"Yep."

--The next day--

Naruto and his team walked through the academy, past the Genjutsu, which the Uchiha was stupid enough to reveal to the other genins, and over to the door leading into the exam room.

"That Sasuke is an idiot..." Shikamaru muttered, shaking his head, getting a nod from Naruto.

"Yeah. He could've kept the really weak ones from entering if he wanted to, but he had to show off."

"I don't think he was supposed to enter the chunnin exams." Kiba said, lowering his voice, in case anyone heard him. "When Kaa-san came home yesterday, she was furious. She walked around all night, grumbling about the Uchiha and about how the council was sucking up to him. As you know, she's a member of the council."

"She's not one of those arrogant, wrinkled old prunes, right?" Naruto asked, scrunching his nose up in disgust. "Because, if she is, I never want to meet her."

"No way!" Kiba exclaimed, grinning. "The only reason my mom is in the council is because it's mandatory, being the head of the Inuzuka clan and all that."

"Oh, good."

They got to the door, where Kakashi was waiting for them.

"Good. You're all here. Now, we can properly take the exam."

"What?" Kiba asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The truth is that this test can only be taken by teams of three." Kakashi explained, making Naruto grin.

"So, you lied to us... again."

Kakashi gave them an eye smile.

"Pretty much!" he exclaimed, making his genins sweatdrop. "But that doesn't really matter, since you all came of your own free will. You guys are my proud team. Now go!"

"Yeah." Naruto said with a smile, while Kiba grinned and Shikamaru gave off a smile of his own. They went through the doors and were introduced to a classroom packed with genins. Everyone, and I mean everyone, stared at them with menacing, 'I want to kill you' eyes. Naruto raised an eyebrow, looking over the classroom.

"What?! You all never seen a genin team before?! Go fuck a kunai! Shove it up your ass and twist it!"

About half the genins turned away from Naruto, most of them blushing at Naruto's choice of words. The rest of the genins twitched.

"Oi, Shikamaru!" came the happy voice of Akimichi Chouji.

"Yo, Chouji." Shikamaru said, waving his hand as Chouji and his team, Aburame Shino and Hyuuga Hinata, walked up. "You're in this exam too? Make sure you don't die."

"I'll say the same to you." Chouji said with a grin, opening up a bag of chips and digging in.

"So, you're aiming for chunnin, huh?" Naruto asked as he looked over Chouji and his team.

"Correct." Shino said, giving of the faintest of nods.

"Like morons like you guys could ever become chunnin." came the arrogant voice of Uchiha Sasuke, making Chouji, Kiba, Shikamaru and Naruto groan.

"It's him..." Naruto muttered and turned around to stare at the Uchiha, waving his hand. "Yo! How's it going, Sas-gay-chan?"

"Shut up, you idiot!" Sakura shrieked furiously. "Don't call Sasuke-kun gay!"

Sasuke had ignored the insult and smirked at the others.

"Are you sure you guys are strong enough for an exam like this? I mean, it's not really something little kids like you can handle."

Kiba grinned.

"Says the little pup who needed the council to pull a veto on the Hokage in order to get into the exam. I heard from my mom that your sensei didn't think you were strong enough."

"Watch it, dog-boy..." Sasuke growled and took a step forward, his hands clenched into fists. Suddenly, he stopped, looking down to find a kunai pointing at his nether regions, courtesy of Naruto, who was glaring at him.

"Take one more step towards my teammate, Sasuke, and you'll find that you won't be able to restore your clan..." Naruto said, his voice dangerously low.

"Hey, you guys. You should be more quiet." came a new voice, making them all look towards the source of it to see a silver haired boy with glasses walking towards them. "You guys are rookies just out of the academy, right? Screaming like school girls... Geez... This isn't a picnic."

"Who the hell are you?" Kiba asked rudely, getting a smirk from Naruto.

"Well said." he said, making Kiba grin in return.

Kabuto coughed slightly.

"I'm Kabuto. But instead of that, look behind you."

"Behind?" Shikamaru asked as they all looked back to see that everyone were glaring at them once more.

"Those guys behind you are from Amegakure (Hidden Rain). They have short tempers." Kabuto explained. "Everyone is nervous about the exam. Quiet down before you cause a scene."

Naruto grinned as he cleared his throat and started leaking his KI.

"I thought I told you all to fuck a kunai! Where's the kunai?!"

The genins, who were surprised at the sudden KI attack, were quick to look away. Naruto turned back to Kabuto.

"Problem solved."

Kabuto cleared his throat, trying not to stray too far from the scene he had rehearsed in his head.

"Well, I can't blame you. You're clueless rookies. You remind me of how I used to be." he said as he opened his pouch and started digging around.

"Kabuto-san, right?" Sakura asked, getting a nod from Kabuto. "So... This is your second time?"

"Nope... It's my seventh. This exam is held twice a year, so this is my fourth year."

"Then... These exams must be really hard." Ino said, making Kiba grin.

"Either that, or this guy is pathetically weak."

"Maybe both." Naruto said with a shrug, making Kabuto sputter, before clearing his throat once more.

"Anyway..." he said and pulled a bunch of cards out of his pouch. "Allow me to share some info with you cute rookies. With these ninja-info cards."

"Ninja-info cards?" Ino asked as Kabuto placed the deck of cards on the floor.

"They are basically cards which have info burned onto them with chakra. I have four years worth of info here. Over 200 cards..." he said and flipped one over, placing it alone on the floor, before placing a finger on it, while his other hand formed a half ram seal. "They look blank, but to open the info on these cards..."

"What are you doing?" Chouji asked as Kabuto started spinning the card around.

"You can't view them unless I use my chakra, for example..."

There was a poof of smoke, and when it cleared, the card displayed a map of the Elemental Countries.

"Wow, a really easy to read graph. What kind of info is this?" Sakura asked, getting a smile from Kabuto.

"This is the number of those taking the exam, and the breakdown of what country they are from." he explained as Sasuke stepped forward.

"Do you have cards with info on individuals?"

"Heh... There are some guys you're worried about?" Kabuto asked, smirking. "Of course... The info on all of this exam's participants isn't perfect, but I do have it. Even of you guys. Say something about these guys and I'll take a look."

"Sabaku no Gaara (Gaara of the Desert) of Sunagakure (Hidden Sand), Rock Lee of Konoha, and Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha."

"Oh, you know their names. Should be easy then."

Naruto smirked in Sasuke's direction.

"Hey... Why would you want information on a lowly weakling such as myself?" he asked, getting a glare from Sasuke.

Kabuto shuffled the deck, before pulling out three cards.

"Okay, first is Rock Lee. He's a year older than you guys. Mission history: D rank - 20 completed, C rank - 12 completed. His sensei is Maito Gai. His Taijutsu has improved greatly in this year. The rest is nothing impressive. Last year, he gained the attention as a talented new genin, but he did not participate in the exam. Like you guys, this is his first time. On his team are Hyuuga Neji and TenTen." he read, before looking at another card. "Next is Sabaku no Gaara. Mission history: C rank - 8 B rank - 1. Wow, a B rank mission as a genin... Since he's a newcomer from a foreign country, I don't have much info, but... it seems that he returned from all of his missions without even a scratch."

Most of the genins were sweating at that point, except for Naruto's team as Kabuto looked at the final card.

"Finally is Uzumaki Naruto. Mission history: D rank - 22 C rank - 1 A rank - 1. An A-rank? Interesting... His current skills are a mystery to me, since he was trained outside the academy, but rumor has it, he was trained by the Hokage after some kind of incident on his seventh birthday. Apparently, he singlehandedly liberated Nami no Kuni (Wave Country) by blowing up the house of the business man Gatou, and at the same time killing Kirigakure (Hidden Mist) missing-nin, Momochi Zabuza."

"And his accomplice." Naruto said with a grin, before turning to Sasuke. "Did that quench your thirst for knowledge, Sas-gay?"

Sasuke just glared at Naruto.

"Konoha, Suna, Ame, Kusa (Grass), Waterfall (Taki), Oto (Sound)... Many outstanding genins from the various Hidden Villages are here to take the exam. Well... Otogakure no Sato (Hidden Sound village) is a small village just created last year, so there isn't much info, but... the rest of the Hidden Villages are filled with talented youngsters."

"M-Makes you lose confidence..." Hinata mumbled, only for Kiba to grin and sling an arm around her shoulders.

"Don't worry, Hinata. We're from Konoha! We can handle anyone easily."

"So, basically... All the people here are..."

"Yup!" Kabuto exclaimed with a grin. "Like Lee and Gaara, they are the top elite genins from various countries."

Naruto grinned.

"This is gonna be a blast!" he exclaimed, getting the attention of everyone in the room. "Alright, everyone! Just so you know! Fuck with me, and I'll kill you all!"

"He's either really brave, or very stupid..." Sakura muttered, standing next to Shikamaru, who sighed.

"I'm sure he actually can back up his claim."

Suddenly, a spiky haired ninja appeared in the air above Kabuto, tossing two kunai and forcing him to dodge. Then, a bandaged nin appeared in front of him, swiping at him with an arm that was equipped with some kind of metallic device. Kabuto dodged easily, smirking. Then, his glasses cracked.

'What the...?' he thought, before freezing, his eyes widening. Suddenly, he collapsed to his knees, throwing up.

"What the hell?" Naruto asked, hearing a slight tingle in his ear. 'Megami... You heard that, didn't you?'

"He attacks using sound..." Megami muttered, nodding in her cage.

'That's gonna be somewhat of a bother...' Naruto thought and walked up to Kabuto with the others. "Oi, Kabuto-san... Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah... I'm fine." Kabuto mumbled, nodding.

"How pathetic, especially because... aren't you a 4 year veteran?" 'Bandage' said.

"Write this down on your cards. 'The three Oto ninjas, definite future chunnins.'" 'Spike' said, smirking.

Suddenly, Naruto appeared between the two, holding them both in a headlock with a kunai at each of their throats.

"Attacking a comrade of mine..." he muttered, glaring at the two. "That's something I just can't forgive..."

Suddenly, an explosion of smoke went off by the blackboard, shocking the genins.

"QUIET DOWN, YOU WORTHLESS BASTARDS! WHAT'S THIS?!" came a roaring voice.

The smoke cleared to show a heavily scarred man standing in front of a large group of chunnins.

"Thanks for waiting... I am Morino Ibiki, the examiner for the chunnin selection exam's first test." the scarred man said, before pointing at Naruto and the Oto ninjas. "You guys! Stop doing as you please before the exam! Do you want to fail already?"

"I apologize." Naruto said, grinning sheepishly. "I guess I got a bit carried away. You know, all this bloodlust packed inside this little room. It's enough to get the blood rushing."

Ibiki just glared.

"Here's a good opportunity to say this... There will be no fighting without the permission of the examiner. Even if permission is granted, killing your opponent will not be tolerated. Those pigs that disobey me will be failed immediately. Do I make myself clear?"

Naruto grinned.

"Crystal, Ibiki-san! Right, guys?" he asked, looking down at the Oto ninjas, still in his headlock.

"Yeah." they both said, giving Ibiki a thumbs up. Naruto released them and walked over to Kabuto, helping him to his feet.

"Nice acting." he whispered, getting a small smile from Kabuto.

"Thanks."

"We will now start the first test in the chunnin exam. Instead of your current seating arrangements..." Ibiki said and held up a small piece of wood with a number on it. "You will pick one of these tabs and sit in the seat assigned to you. We will then hand out the exams."

As they headed towards Ibiki, Kabuto whispered to Naruto.

"The point to this test is cheating."

"Thanks." Naruto whispered and looked to his teammates, using sign language to spread the word. The two nodded in acknowledgment.

As they sat at their desks, Naruto was bored, reaching into his pocket to pull out a pair of mirrored sunglasses in preparation for the test, putting them on.

"Do not turn you tests over." Ibiki said, holding up a piece of chalk. "Listen closely to what I'm about to say." he said and started writing on the blackboard. "There are many important rules to this first test. I'll write it on the board while I explain, but questions will not be allowed, so listen carefully. The first rule. You guys will all start off with 10 points. The test is made up of 10 questions and each one is worth a point, but... This test uses a subtraction system. Basically, if you answer all the questions correctly, you keep your 10 points. But say if you miss three questions, you will lose three points and will have 7. The second rule... This is a team test. Whether you pass or not will be determined by the combined score of your teammates. So, each team will compete to see how many points they can hold on to from the initial total of 30."

"Wait a second!" Sakura shouted. "I don't understand this initial points system either, but why is it a team test?!"

"Shut up. You don't have the right to question me. There is a reason for this. Be quiet and listen." Ibiki said, narrowing his eyes. "Okay, and the most important rule. The third rule is that during the exam... Anyone caught by the testing officers, doing sneaky activities, namely cheating... will have 2 points subtracted for every offense." Ibiki said, smirking in an evil looking way. "Realize that the pathetic ones that get caught cheating will be destroying themselves. As shinobis trying to achieve the level of chunnin, be proud ninjas!"

'That settles it. The point is cheating. A proud ninja isn't exactly the most honorable man on earth, no?' Naruto thought, getting a mental nod of agreement from Megami.

"And the final rule... Those that lose all their initial points during the test and those that don't answer any questions correctly... will be failed along with their 2 teammates." Ibiki exclaimed, shocking the genins. "The exam will last one hour... BEGIN!"

Naruto immediately activated his eye, unnoticed by the examiners, and looked over to his teammates. Shikamaru had started writing on his own accord, while Kiba was having some troubles. Naruto clicked his pen against the table a couple of times, a Morse code that they had invented the day before.

_--Flashback--_

_The genins were just about to leave the bridge, when Shikamaru stopped them._

"_Wait up, guys." he said, stopping his teammates as he pulled out two pieces of paper, quickly writing something down on both of them, before handing them over to the two. Naruto took his and looked at it, before raising an eyebrow._

"_Morse code? I don't think you've studied enough, Shikamaru... This isn't Morse code..."_

"_That's right." Shikamaru said, smirking. "I already know Morse code, but so does plenty of other ninjas. In case we get cut off from being able to speak with each other, we will be able to communicate in a way that no one else will understand. Well, they'll understand it, but they won't be getting the right words. If my calculations are correct, the most common words used with this Morse code, will translate to a bunch of profanities in the normal Morse."_

"_So... If I were to tell you something..." Kiba mumbled, and Naruto continued._

"_Others would hear something like... Fuck those fucking fuckers?"_

"_Pretty much." Shikamaru said with a smirk. "Make sure to study."_

"_I will." Naruto said and pocketed the note. "Thanks, Shikamaru."_

"_Yeah, thanks, Shika." Kiba said with a grin as he turned to leave. "I better study right away, otherwise, it'll be forgotten by tomorrow."_

_--Flashback End--_

Kiba.

Kiba looked over to Naruto and tapped his own pen against the table.

What do I do?

You have four eyes, Kiba. Use them.

Kiba's eyes widened with realization as he picked up Akamaru and placed him on his head.

Thanks.

No problem, pal.

Good luck, guys. Shikamaru tapped, making Naruto smirk.

I don't need luck. I'm good.

He activated his X-ray and zoom function, looking over the tests, finding the answers and copying them.

Ibiki looked puzzled, knowing Morse code. Everyone else who'd heard were also puzzled, while Naruto and Kiba were grinning at Ibiki's look.

When 44 minutes had passed, Naruto thought of something, and even though he'd already finished his test, he wanted to do it.

'Lose two points every time you get caught cheating...' Naruto though, a smirk forming on his face. 'Hey, Megami?'

"I'm all for it, Naruto-kun." Megami said, grinning inside her cage.

Naruto chuckled as he stood up, making the examiners look at him strangely.

"Can I help you?" Ibiki asked, to which Naruto shook his head.

"Nah, I'm good." he said and walked up to a twenty year old genin from Ame in front of him. A long haired, curvy genin with a C-cup. He leaned against her desk and stared at her paper, before looking over at her.

"Hi. If you'll excuse me, I'll just take a little look at your paper." he said, pulling down his shades to wink at her.

Ibiki stared at Naruto for a moment, blinking, then, he started shaking, both from anger and amusement. The examiners looked at him, unsure of what to do. Ibiki just nodded once, indicating that Naruto had been caught only once.

Naruto just kept grinning and held out his hand to the staring woman.

"I'm Naruto, nice to meet you."

The genin took his hand, smirking.

"Yutaka. You're pretty bold, you know that?"

"So I've been told. This your first time in Konoha?" Naruto asked, getting a nod from the genin.

"It is."

'Megami-chan?'

Megami's grin widened as she started pumping pheromones through Naruto's body. Yutaka felt her body heat up as her heart started beating faster. She involuntarily blushed while Naruto grinned.

"Then, after this exam is over... maybe I can take you out? You know, show you the many sights of Konoha?"

Yutaka's blush intensified as she found herself staring into Naruto's eyes. Ibiki cleared his throat, getting the attention of the two.

"Are you done?"

"No." Naruto said as he straightened himself. "But I'm guessing your not gonna allow me to stand here all day."

"That's right." Ibiki said, narrowing his eyes. "Back to your seat."

Naruto groaned as he walked back to his seat, sitting down with a pout.

As Naruto sat down, Ibiki looked out over the classroom.

"Okay, and now... we will begin the 10th question. Now... Before we get to it, I'd like to go over the added rules for this question."

Shock went through the genins as the door opened, and the puppet user from Suna, who'd been to the bathroom, entered the room.

"Heh... Nice timing..." Ibiki said, smirking. "Was your doll playing beneficial?"

The puppet user twitched, surprised that he'd been caught.

"Just sit down..." Ibiki said, and the puppet user complied. "I'll now explain... These are the rules of desperation... First, for this 10th question. You must decide whether you will take it or not."

"Choose?!" another Suna genin, a girl with her blond hair tied in four ponytails, shouted. "What happens if we choose not to?!"

Ibiki chuckled darkly.

"If you choose not to, your points will be reduced to zero... You fail! Along with your two teammates."

Everyone started to shout about how, of course, they were going to take it, but Ibiki interrupted them all.

"And now... the other rule." he said, silencing them all. "If you choose to take it, and answer incorrectly... That person will lose the right to ever take the chunnin selection exam again."

"What kind of stupid rule is that?!" Kiba roared. "There are guys here who have taken the exam before!"

Ibiki chuckled darkly again, only this chuckle was the kind one would use in front of someone when taking extreme pleasure in ripping their guts out.

"You guys were unlucky. This year, it's my rules. But I am giving you a way out. Those that aren't confident can choose not to take it, and try again next year." he said, smirking at them all. "Now, let's begin the 10th question. Those that do not wish to take it, raise your hand. Once your number is confirmed, leave."

Naruto looked around and saw that Shikamaru was not in the least worried. It didn't matter to him if he remained a genin. But Kiba was fidgeting, clearly nervous. Naruto smiled lightly as he started tapping his desk.

Relax, Keebs. Even if you'll have to remain a genin, you can still become clan head, no? Don't worry about it.

Of course, everyone who knew Morse code just heard a bunch of profanities.

Shikamaru laid his head against the desk, Kiba steeled his resolve, and Naruto leaned back, calm as ever.

Several genins quit, causing their teams to quit as well. Then, when it seemed like no one else was going to quit, Ibiki spoke up.

"Alright, does anyone else want to quit?"

No one answered.

"Well then, to the 78 who remain... Congratulations on passing the first test!"

Everyone froze, staring at him, shocked.

"Wait... What do you mean?" Sakura asked, wiping sweat from her bigger than average brow. "We already pass? What about the 10th question?"

Ibiki grinned in a friendly manner, which was strange, since everything about him was anything but friendly.

"There never was such a thing. Or, you could say that those two choices were the 10th question."

"Hey! Then what were the first nine questions for?!" the blond haired Suna genin shouted. "They were pointless then!"

"They were not pointless..." Ibiki said, letting out a chuckle. "They had already served their intended purpose." he said, turning serious. "To test your individual information gathering ability. That purpose."

Naruto looked to the side to see Hinata staring at him, trying to find out how he did it. He grinned and pulled down his shades, jabbing his bionic eye with his pen.

"First, as the rules explained, success on this test is based on the whole team doing well. This puts pressure on each member not to mess things up for their teammates." Ibiki explained, looking over the genins. "But the questions on this test were not the types that a mere genin could answer. Because of that, I'm sure most of the people came to the conclusion that to score points, you'd have to cheat. Basically, the premise of this test is to cheat. As cheating targets, we had two or so chunnins, who knew all the answers, mixed into the crowd. To help you guys out."

"Piece of cake." Naruto said, smirking. Ibiki chuckled and started untying his bandanna.

"But those who cheat poorly... fail, of course." he said and removed the bandanna, causing many of the genins to recoil in fright. His head was covered with horrible burns, screw holes and scars. "Because... at times, information is more important than life. And on missions and the battlefield, people risk their lives to get their hands on it."

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

'This guy has been through a lot.' he thought, his respect for the man rising. 'A real veteran.'

"If the enemy or 3rd party notices you, there is no guarantee the info will be accurate." Ibiki said as he put on his bandanna again. "I want you to remember this. Important information in your hands can be a powerful weapon for your comrades and for the village. So, we had you gather information through cheating. This clearly separated those that did not have the right abilities."

"But... I don't understand the final question." the Suna genin said, making Ibiki smile.

"But... question 10... is the true purpose of this test. Let me explain. The 10th question, the take it or not take it decision... Obviously, these were painful choices. Those who choose the latter fail along with their teammates. Those who choose to take it could lose the chance to ever take the test again. A true leap of faith."

Naruto nodded to himself. It was a very good way to weed out those who couldn't take the pressure.

"How about these two choices... say you guys become chunnins... Your mission is to steal a secret document. The amount of ninjas, their abilities, etc. is unknown to you. And, of course, there could be traps set all around you. Now, do you accept, or not accept?" Ibiki asked, turning serious once more. Naruto was starting to get pissed off. Was this guy bipolar?! "Because you don't want to die... because you don't want your comrades hurt... can you avoid the dangerous mission? The answer is no! No matter what the danger, there are missions you can't avoid. The ability to be courageous... and survive any hardship... This is the ability needed to become a chunnin captain! Those who can't put their destinies on the line... who cling to the uncertain future of 'there's always next year,' and then walk away from their chance... Those pieces of trash, who can only make such cowardly choices, don't have the right to become a chunnin! That's how I feel. Those who choose to take it... answered the tough 10th questions correctly. You will be able to survive any troubles you face in the future. You have made it through the entrance, first test of the chunnin selection exam is now finished. I wish you guys luck."

"Hell yes! We'll survive anything!" Naruto exclaimed, pumping his left fist into the air. Ibiki noticed the scar around Naruto's elbow and smirked to himself.

'Uzumaki Naruto... Interesting guy...'

Suddenly, something caught his eye, and he stepped back just in time for a ball of cloth to come flying through the window. Two kunai flew out of the bundle of cloth and stuck to the ceiling, unfurling the cloth, revealing a purple haired woman wearing a tan trench coat. On the cloth was the text, 'Second exam proctor Mitarashi Anko.'

"You guys! This is no time to be celebrating!" the woman, obviously name Mitarashi Anko, exclaimed. "I am the examiner for the second test, Mitarashi Anko! The hard part starts here! Are you ready?!" she shouted and pumped her fist into the air. Ibiki came out from behind the cloth.

"Grasp the atmosphere..."

Anko blushed, but looked around, raising an eyebrow. Then, she turned to Ibiki.

"78?! Ibiki! You left 26 teams?! The test was too easy this time!"

Ibiki shrugged.

"This time, there are a lot of outstanding ones." he said, getting a scoff from Anko.

"Bah! That's fine. I'll at least cut them in half in the second test." she said, causing the genins to sweat. Then, when they saw her shiver and smirk, they almost freaked out. "Ah... I'm getting excited... I'll explain everything tomorrow. Ask your jounin senseis for the location of the second test. Dismissed!"

--1 hour later--

Naruto, Shikamaru and Kiba were at Ichiraku ramen together with Kakashi.

"Congratulations on passing, you three." Kakashi praised, smiling at the three. "I must admit that I wasn't sure you'd pass, what with Ibiki being in charge of the first test. He has the reputation of being a sadist. He's the village's top torture and interrogation expert, who focuses the most on psychological torture."

"They chose a guy like that to be the proctor?" Shikamaru asked with wide eyes, before sighing. "We got lucky..."

"It wasn't luck." Naruto said, smiling. "It was like he said, we got a choice, and we did what a chunnin would do. We took it, even knowing the consequences."

Kakashi smiled at his students.

"I'm proud of you three. Once the second exam is finished, I'll teach you all something new."

"Hah!" Kiba exclaimed, pumping his fist into the air.

"Sweet!" Naruto said, patting Shikamaru on the back. "Come on, you too."

"Tch, troublesome..." Shikamaru muttered, before clearing his throat. "Hurrah."

Naruto shrugged.

"That's better than nothing, I guess."

"So, Kakashi-sensei, where is the second test?" Kiba asked, and Kakashi put a hand on his chin.

"Um... Training area 44, 10:00 AM." he said, making Naruto raise an eyebrow.

"If we get there at 10, we'll be late, right?" he asked, getting an eye-smile from Kakashi.

"You'll be fashionably late."

The three genin smirked at each other, even Shikamaru, and Kakashi chuckled.

"Remember, a good excuse is everything."

And with that, they started planning.

--The next day--

At training area 44, 10:00 AM, Naruto, Kiba and Shikamaru came walking up to the gathered genin. They walked up to the rest of the Rookie 9 and stood lazily at the front, while the proctor glared at them.

"You're late, and you missed the start of my explanation."

Kiba waved, smiling.

"Sorry, I ran across a beautiful young lady on the way here. She asked me to dance for her, and I did."

Shikamaru was next, smiling lazily.

"Sorry I'm late. A bird died in front of me on the way here, and I had to help the parents plan the funeral."

Naruto was last, scratching the back of his head with a smile.

"Yeah, sorry! I got lost on the road of life. I took a right turn when I should have gone left, and I fell down a cliff. Then, I had to climb all the way up. When I got up, I realized that I had ripped my clothes, so I had to go home and change."

Anko sweatdropped, glaring at them as her eye twitched.

"Kakashi's genins?"

The three nodded, all of them smiling proudly as they saw everyone staring at them strangely.

Meanwhile, in the Hokage tower, Sarutobi and the jounin senseis were gathered, staring at Sarutobi's crystal ball. Sarutobi had, at Kakashi's request, checked on the second exam, and now, Kakashi was actually crying tears of joy.

"I'm so proud of them! Next, I'll introduce them to Icha!"

A loud "NO!" could be heard all the way to Area 44.

"Anyway," Anko said, clearing her throat. "like I said, this is the Forest of Death. You'll soon find out why it's called that."

Naruto snorted.

"Like that'll scare us!"

Anko smiled at him.

"You're spirited."

Quicker than most genins could react, a kunai ended up in her hand, and Naruto only had the chance to see the glint of steel, before it sliced his cheek, and Anko poofed in behind him. He could easily feel her assets being pressed against his back as she leaned against him.

"Kids like you are quickly killed." she whispered as she licked up the blood flowing from a cut on his cheek. "Spraying that red blood I love so much."

Naruto shuddered and turned to Kiba, who was blushing, wide eyed.

"Hey, Keebs... Is it wrong for me to be turned on right now?"

"Hell, _I'm_ turned on right now." Shikamaru said, sighing. "Troublesome women."

Anko was about to say something, when a kunai appeared in her hand, and she turned around to see a woman with a straw hat holding out her thrown kunai, with her tongue... A freakishly long tongue.

"Here's your kunai."

"Why thank you." Anko said, smiling sweetly. "But, you know... don't sneak up behind me... unless you want to die."

The woman smirked, dropping the kunai to the ground as she retracted her tongue.

"No... I just get excited when I see red blood.. Plus, you cut my precious hair, I couldn't help it..."

"Sorry about that." Anko said as the woman walked back to her teammates. Naruto scrunched up his nose in disgust.

'How does that tongue fit inside her mouth?'

"Looks like we have a lot of bloodthirsty ones in this test." Anko said, smirking. "This should be fun." she said, reaching into her coat, taking out a wad of papers. "Now, before we start the second test, there's something I have to pass out. You must sign these agreement forms."

"What for?" Naruto asked as he took the paper she handed him.

"There will be deaths in this one... and if I don't have you sign these, it will all be my responsibility." Anko explained, chuckling. "I'm going to explain the second test. Then, you can sign it afterwards, and then, each team will check in at that booth behind me."

Anko pointed at a both near the fence, where three bored looking chunnins sat, obviously wanting to be somewhere else.

"I'll now explain the second test. Simply put, you will attempt the ultimate survival."

Shikamaru sighed.

"Survival... This test sucks..."

Naruto and Kiba chuckled quietly at Shikamaru's attitude.

"First, I'll explain the area, in which it will take place." Anko said and unfurled a scroll, showing a map of the forest. "Around the Forest of Death are 44 locked gates. Forest, river, and a tower in the center. From the gates to the tower, it's around 10 kilometers. During the survival in here, you will be asked to complete a certain task. Using your many weapons and jutsu, you will compete in a... no rules... scroll battle."

"Scroll?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes." Anko said with a nod as she held out two scrolls. "You will fight over these two scrolls, the Heaven and Earth. There are 78 people here, meaning, 26 teams. Half, 13, will get the Heaven scroll. And th other 13 teams will each get the Earth scroll. To pass this test, your team must make it to the tower with both scrolls."

"So, 13 teams will lose their scrolls..." Shikamaru muttered. "At least half the teams will definitely fail..."

"But there's a time limit." Anko continued. "This second test will last 120 hours. Exactly five days."

"FIVE DAYS?!" Yamanaka Ino exclaimed, wide eyed.

"WHAT ABOUT DINNER?!" Chouji roared, shocked.

"Shit, so loud..." Shikamaru muttered, sticking his finger into his ear.

"You're on your own. The forest is full of food. Just watch out for man-eating beasts, poisonous insects, poisonous plants, etc." Anko said, smiling cruelly. "And 13 teams passing is not likely. As the days go on, the distance to the goal will become farther, and the time to rest will become shorter. And the area is crawling with enemies. You won't get much sleep. So, not only will some fail by losing the scroll, but some will die from the harshness of the course." she explained, before holding up her hand. "Now, I'll talk about what will disqualify you." she raised a finger. "First, those that don't make it to the tower with both scroll within the time limit." she raised another finger. "Second, those who lose a teammate or those who have a teammate killed. As a rule, there is no quitting in the middle. You will be in the forest for five days, or less, depending on when you get to the tower. And one more rule... You must not look inside the scroll until you make it to the tower."

"What happens if you do?" Naruto asked, getting a smirk from Anko.

"That will be a surprise for anyone who does. A chunnin will be asked to handle classified information. This is to test your trustworthiness. That's it for the explanations. Exchange the 3 forms for your scroll, then choose a gate to get ready for the start." Anko said, before grinning at them all. "A final word of advice... Don't die."

"Well, no shit..." Naruto muttered as the chunnins in the booth covered it with a curtain.

"It's about time to exchange for the scrolls." one of them announced.

Naruto and his team signed the forms, went to the booth, got an Earth scroll, and then headed off, ready to enter gate 9, where an instructor was waiting, unlocking it.

"Why 9?" Kiba asked, getting a grin from Naruto.

"It's my lucky number."

"Alright." Shikamaru said as he crouched down, drawing in the dirt. "Did you all get the map memorized?" he asked, getting nods from his teammates. "Good. We'll zig-zag to the tower, which gives us a better chance of finding other teams. From here, the tower is to the north. Now, we'll go in a line. Kiba, you're in front, scouting with your nose. Naruto, you're after him, using your zoom and x-ray, and I'll be last, ready to support you in case of an attack."

"Sounds good. But my eye drains my chakra rapidly." Naruto said, and Shikamaru nodded.

"I know, that's why Kiba is in front. You will turn your eye on and off, and if Kiba finds someone, you'll use your eye to see exactly where they are. Got it?"

"We got it." Kiba said, nodding. "However, who holds the scroll?"

"Naruto takes the scroll, since he is in the middle. That way, it'll be harder for others to steal it."

"The second exam begins now!" was suddenly heard in the speakers, and the instructor opened the gate, allowing them to enter, which they did, speeding inside.

After running for 30 minutes, Kiba tensed up, sniffing around.

"Naruto."

Naruto activated his eye and looked around.

"There are three of them." he said, not turning his head, hardly even moving his lips. "One on our right, one on our left, and one right behind us."

Shikamaru spoke up.

"Let's take a break." he said out loud, and they stopped. "I gotta talk to you guys."

The three crouched down, turned to each other.

"How about now?" Shikamaru whispered as Naruto folded out his cannon. Kiba slid three kunai from his sleeve while Shikamaru already had one in his hand.

"Directly behind each of us." Naruto said calmly as a quarter of his chakra gauge was filled with wind chakra. "Let's go... now!"

The three quickly turned around, Kiba and Shikamaru launching their kunai while Naruto fired his cannon. The blast of air flew through the bushes, slicing up a path of destruction.

Two screams were heard, signaling that Kiba and Naruto had his their targets. Naruto grinned as he saw blood pooling from where he had fired his cannon and turned to the trees behind Shikamaru.

"At least one of your comrades is dead. You have already failed the test. You have a choice right now. You can either come out here and give us your scroll, or you can run away and let us hunt you down. Trust me, running wouldn't work."

All they got was silence, while Naruto turned on his eye to see the Ame-genin in the trees, contemplating it. Then, he reached into his pouch and threw a scroll at them, which Shikamaru caught with ease.

"Heaven." Shikamaru told the others, who nodded.

"You can leave now!" Naruto told the Ame-genin, before his team took off towards the tower again.

Kiba grinned as they took to the trees, jumping from branch to branch.

"This is sweet! It's been less than an hour, and we've already gotten the scroll we need!"

"Now, the only problem is keeping both of them until we get to the tower." Shikamaru spoke, and Naruto nodded.

"I'm sorry, Shika, but we need to increase our speed. If we go at top speed from here, without running into any trouble, we should be there in less than an hour."

"It'll be troublesome, but I can speed up. The less time we spend in this forest, the happier I'll be."

"True that." Kiba said with a nod, and all three picked up their speed.

After 30 more minutes of running, Naruto stopped, looking around wildly as sweat broke out in his forehead.

"Woah, woah... Stop!" he ordered, and the others landed next to him. Kiba stared at him strangely.

"What's up, Naruto?"

"There's something... Something vile here..." Naruto muttered and pointed east. "There..." he mumbled, and then pointed to the west. "and there..."

Akamaru, who was inside Kiba's jacket, yipped, shaking.

"Akamaru senses something too." Kiba said as he sniffed around. "I can also smell something, but it's not much. It's chakra, but it smells..."

"Dirty?" Naruto asked, getting a nod from Kiba.

"That's it."

"Let's rest for a couple of minutes." Shikamaru said as he sat down. They had stopped next to a flowing river, making Shikamaru sigh. "We've strayed a little off course." he said and pointed to the north-west. "If we follow this river, we should get to the tower."

Naruto crouched down next to the river and stuck his hand in, before wiping it across his brow.

"That chakra... coming from the east... it was demon chakra..." he said, making the others go wide-eyed.

"How do you know that?" Kiba asked, and Naruto sighed.

"I'm gonna tell you something that's considered an S-ranked secret in the village, punishable by death if you reveal it to anyone else. It's your choice if you want to hear it or not."

"I'll keep it a secret." Kiba said, getting a nod of agreement from Shikamaru. Naruto took a deep breath, before telling them.

"As you know, the Kyuubi attacked the village 12 years ago. The younger generation were told that my dad killed it, but that's a lie. He didn't kill the Kyuubi. He sealed it. However, the only thing that could contain the Kyuubi's power was a newborn baby, whose chakra coils hadn't developed yet."

"And that baby was you." Shikamaru concluded, nodding, causing Naruto to blink in confusion. Shikamaru smiled. "I always knew you had some kind of connection to the Kyuubi. I mean, your birthday is October 10th, the villagers hate you, and everyone always calls you demon. But I don't think you're a demon. I asked my dad about you once. The only thing he asked me was, 'Tell me, Shikamaru, if you saw a prison, holding a murderer, would you consider the prison a murderer?' I didn't know what he meant back then. I guess he meant that you were the prison, and Kyuubi was the prisoner."

"That's strange." Kiba said, blinking. "My mom told me something like that. Only, she talked about a scroll and a sealed kunai."

"So, you're not ignorant like the villagers?" Naruto asked, getting a grin from Kiba.

"I know for a fact that you're not a demon. First, you don't smell like that chakra from before, and second, you risked your life to save Kakashi in Wave. Besides, we've been friends for quite a while now. Even if you were a demon, I know you don't want to kill us."

"I'd say the same thing, but that'd be too troublesome. I'll just say, I feel the same way." Shikamaru said, getting a smile from Naruto.

"Thanks, guys. That means a lot to me." he said and got up. "Well, let's go."

"Yeah."

--35 minutes later--

Kiba grunted, getting the attention of his teammates.

"We've got a tail."

Naruto chuckled and reached into his kunai pouch, taking out a scroll. It had the kanji for Earth on it. He grinned as he dropped it, making the others go wide eyed.

"What are you doing?" Kiba hissed, while Naruto pulled out two other scrolls, one with the Kanji for Earth on it, and the other with Heaven.

"A trap." Naruto said as an explosion was heard behind them. Kiba stared at Naruto, wide-eyed. Naruto elaborated. "When we headed away from the river, I made a fake scroll, with an exploding note in it. As soon as someone picked it up, boom."

"You're evil, Naruto." Kiba said, grinning. Naruto grinned as well.

"I know."

The three landed in front of the tower, and Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"You know... Maybe the ones behind us... weren't chasing us?"

Team 7 quickly headed inside, not really wanting to think about it.

They got to an... empty room...

"Hey... It's empty..." Kiba mumbled, getting a nod from Naruto.

"Your powers of observation are stunning, Keebs."

"Shut up, asshole."

"Look at that." Shikamaru said and pointed at wall at the far end of the room. High above them was a text. Naruto read it and raised an eyebrow.

"Without Heaven... What the hell?" he asked and pointed at a segment of the text. "Words are missing there..."

"This is probably about the scrolls." Shikamaru said, reading the text over and over. "I think they are telling us to open up the scrolls."

Naruto reached into his kunai pouch, taking out the scrolls. He handed one to Kiba and took a deep breath, preparing to open the scroll.

"Alright... Open them." Shikamaru ordered, and the two ripped open the scrolls, screwing their eyes shut as if the scrolls were going to explode or something. The three slowly opened their eyes and stared at the scroll. They all recognized the inky patterns on the scrolls.

"These are summoning seals!" Naruto exclaimed and threw away the scroll, while Kiba did the same, just in time for them to explode into smoke. The smoke cleared, and the three genin stared.

"I-Iruka-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, while the smiling chunnin in front of them grinned.

"Hey! Long time no see!"

"What's going on?!" Kiba asked, still not really able to grasp the fact that their academy sensei had just appeared in front of them. "Why the hell were you summoned?"

"At the end of this second test, it's set up so we chunnins meet up with the exam takers, and I was allowed to be the one to greet you."

"Greet us?" Shikamaru asked, getting a nod from Iruka, who picked up a pocket watch, staring at it.

"Wow, one hour and 36 minutes. That's a new record." he spoke, grinning. "The second test... all three of you pass. Congratulations."

"Ah!" Kiba exclaimed, snapping his fingers. "I get it! If we would have opened the scrolls during the test, you would have appeared! What were you going to do, sensei?"

"You are sharp, Kiba." Iruka said, chuckling as he picked up the Earth scroll, holding it up. "As you may have figured out, this test's rules are set up to test your ability to perform missions correctly. So, if you were to break these rules and open the scrolls..."

"What would have happened?" Shikamaru asked, getting a smile from Iruka.

"Those exam takers would be put in a condition of unconsciousness for the remainder of the test period. Those were my orders."

"Hey, sensei." Naruto said, pointing at the wall. "What's the meaning of the writing on the wall? Seems like there's a word missing. We can't figure it out."

"Ah." Iruka said and pointed at the text. "I'm also here to explain that. Read it. This is the motto of the chunnin written by Hokage-sama."

"Motto?" Shikamaru asked, scratching his head. "This is becoming too troublesome for my tastes..."

Iruka chuckled.

"You haven't changed, Shikamaru. Anyway, the 'Heaven' in this paragraph refers to the human mind, and the 'Earth' refers to the human body." he explained. "'If you lack Heaven, seek wisdom, be prepared.' That's basically, for example, if someone's weakness is his or her brain, 'Gain knowledge and prepare yourself for the missions.' 'If you lack Earth, run in the fields, seek advantages.' So, if someone's weakness is stamina, then it's saying that you must continue to train hard. And if you have both Heaven and Earth, you can succeed even the most dangerous missions. So, basically, all missions become safe and easy."

"I have to agree with Shika." Naruto said, scratching his chin. "This is way too troublesome."

"Yeah, why say it like that?" Kiba asked, glaring at the text. "Why not just write, 'If you lack a brain, study.' and 'If you lack strength, train!'"

"You three are annoying..." Iruka muttered, groaning. "I'm trying to teach you something here!" he shouted, before clearing his throat. "Anyway, the words that that represent a chunnin. The 'person' word from the scrolls goes there. The last sentence is 'These rules will guide a person's extremes.' However, since you absolutely smashed the previous record by four hours, I don't think you lack neither Earth nor Heaven. However, train hard, get stronger, and advance through the ranks. Make our Hokage, and the Hokages before him proud!"

The three genin saluted Iruka.

"Ossu (Yes, sir)!"

"I'm sorry for ever doubting that you'd get this far." Iruka said, smiling proudly. "Now, go ahead and train, rest, eat, whatever you want. It's all in here."

"Food!" Kiba and Naruto roared in unison as they rushed past Iruka, heading into the room behind him, while Shikamaru trailed behind lazily.

Meanwhile, in another part of the tower, Sarutobi, Anko and the jounin senseis were in front of a monitor, watching a tape that a chunnin had just brought in.

"Holy crap..." Anko muttered as she stared at the tape, while Kakashi smiled with pride. On the tape was his team, waltzing into the tower without a scratch, one hour and 36 minutes after the exam started.

"They smashed the previous record by 4 hours!" Asuma exclaimed, blinking. "How the hell did they do that?"

"They're just that good, Asuma." Kakashi said, feeling extremely prideful. "How's your team doing there, Gai?" he asked, turning to his spandex wearing rival. "Have they finished yet?"

"Kakashi! Your team burns with the fires of youth! They are a true inspiration to us all!" Gai exclaimed, while Kakashi just turned to him lazily.

"Hm? You say something?"

"AH! WHAT A HIP RESPONSE, MY YOUTHFUL RIVAL! YOSH! I SHALL WORK HARDER TO SHOW YOU THAT YOUTH OVERCOMES HIPNESS!"

--Skip, the end of the second exam--

Naruto and his team stood with the other 18 genins that passed, in front of the jounin senseis, the proctors, some chunnins and the Hokage.

Sarutobi cleared his throat.

"First off, for the second test, congratulations on passing!"

Gai smirked and looked at Kakashi.

"Your team isn't too bad. Maybe they were lucky. But as long as my team is around, getting any further is impossible. Since, from now, it's all about real ability. Well, with youth, there are sweet times, and there are sour times, eh Kakashi?"

Kakashi just turned to Gai, staring at him lazily.

"Huh? You say something, Gai?"

Gai snapped and turned his back on Kakashi, clutching his fist.

'Heh... Not bad, my rival Kakashi... You're cool in that way, and it really gets on my nerves!'

Kakashi just looked clueless.

Naruto looked down at Akamaru, to see him shaking inside Kiba's jacket. He knew why. Gaara, the sand genin, wasn't far away, and he was leaking demon chakra and bloodlust.

"Hey, Red." Naruto said, getting the attention from the redhead. "You know, you should keep that nasty chakra of yours bottled up. You're scaring the pup."

"Shut up." Gaara muttered, while Naruto grinned.

"There's no need for such hostility. Just stop radiating that psycho killer vibe."

Sarutobi almost groaned when he saw Naruto about to start a fight. So, he spoke up.

"Now, for the coming third test, but before I explain that, there's something else I'd like you to know. It concerns the true reason for this exam. Why do we have all the allied countries taking the exam together? 'To promote friendship among the countries.' 'To raise the level of shinobi.' I don't want you to be confused about the true meaning. This exam is..." Sarutobi said and paused dramatically, puffing on his pipe. "A replacement for war among the allied countries." he said, shocking the genins present, save for Naruto, who had already been told a long time ago by Sarutobi. "If you go back in time, the current allies were enemies who fought each other over who would rule. In order to prevent wasteful fighting, the stage that these countries chose for battle, that is the origins of this chunnin selection exam."

"Then, this isn't for chunnin promotions?" Rock Lee asked, wide eyed.

"It is a fact that this exam decides which shinobis have what it takes to become a chunnin. But on the other hand, this exam has another side, where each country's ninja risks their own life to protect their land's prestige."

"Prestige?" Ino asked, getting a nod from Sarutobi.

"Watching this third exam will be leaders and influential individuals from many countries who make up the clients of the shinobi. And the leaders of the countries will also be there to watch each of your battles. If the strength of a country is clear, that country will receive more clients. And conversely, if seen as weak, they will lose clients." Sarutobi said and paused for a moment, letting the information sink in. "And this will signal to potential enemy countries that 'our village has this much power.' So, wi will send a political message to the outsiders."

"But why?" Kiba asked. "Why do we have to risk our lives in battle?"

Surprisingly, it was Naruto who answered.

"Think about it, Keebs, would you rather have a couple of genins fighting each other, with around 100 deaths at most, or thousands of deaths in a useless war? Think of it as miniature wars."

Sarutobi nodded.

"While that is true, the strength of the country is the strength of the village. The strength of the village is the strength of the shinobi. And a shinobi's true strength is born only through life-risking battle. This exam is a place to see each country's strength, and to show off your own. It only has meaning because lives are at risk. And that's why those that have come before you have fought in the have fought in the chunnin exam for this dream that is meaningful."

"But then... why do you say stuff about it being for friendship?" Tenten of Team Gai asked, looking thoroughly confused.

"I said it in the beginning, I don't want you to confuse the purpose of this. By losing life and establishing balance. This is the shape of friendship in the world of the shinobi." Sarutobi said calmly. "Before we begin the third test, I will tell you one more thing. This is not just a test... This is a life-risking battle, with your dreams and your country's prestige on the line."

"I don't care what it is... Just hurry up and tell us what this life-risking battle entails."

"Relax, Red. You in a hurry? Others may want to hear what Hokage-sama has to say." Naruto said, narrowing his eyes at the redhead. The jounins and Sarutobi were shocked. Naruto never called the old man Hokage-sama! Sarutobi cleared his throat.

"Yes, I'd like to now explain the third test, but-"

"Actually, (cough)" a new voice interrupted as a man blurred into view in front of Sarutobi, on his knees. "I apologize, Hokage-sama... From here on, as the referee, will you please allow me, Gekkou Hayate, to explain?"

"By all means." Sarutobi said with a nod. The man stood up and turned to the genins. He looked sick, with bags around his eyes and a cough.

"Hello, everyone, I'm Hayate. Um... Before the third test, there's something I'd like you to do."

'Hayate-san's disease is still plaguing him, I see...' Naruto thought, frowning.

"It's a preliminary for the third test to decide who gets to participate in the main event." Hayate explained, coughing again. "The first and second test may have been too easy this year. We have a bit too many people remaining. According to chunnin exam rules, we must have a preliminary and reduce the number of participants for the third test. As Hokage-sama indicated earlier, there will be many guests at the third tests, so the fights could take too long. We are limited in time." he explained and paused, letting the information sink in. "So, anyway, those who are not feeling well, those who feel like quitting after these explanations, please come forward now. Since we'll be starting the preliminary immediately."

After a couple of seconds of silence, Kabuto raised his hand.

"Um... I'm going to quit."

Hayate stared at him for a while, before looking at his clipboard.

"You're Yakushi Kabuto-kun from the Leaf, right? You may leave now. Does anyone else want to retire? Oh, um... I forgot to tell you that, from now on, it will be individual battling. You may raise your hand based on your own judgment."

No one else raised their hand.

"Well, since no one else wants to quit, let's begin. There are basically no rules. The fight continues until one of you dies, is knocked out, or admits your defeat. But when I decide that the winner has clearly been established, since we don't want to pointlessly increase the amount of corpses, I'll jump in and stop things. And the object that controls your destinies is..."

A hatch on the wall opened up to reveal a large scoreboard.

"is this... This electric scoreboard will show the match-ups for each battle. Now, this is sudden, but let's announce the 2 names of the first fight."

The screen flickered to light, and two names popped up.

_Uchiha Sasuke_

_vs_

_Akado Yoroi_

Hayate coughed.

"Will everyone except the two participants move to the upper level?"

Everyone, save for Sasuke and Yoroi, walked up to the stands, where Team 7 met their sensei, who was leaning against the wall, reading his Icha.

"Yo, sensei. How's life?"

"Good, Naruto. How's yours?"

"Couldn't be better."

With that, they turned their attention to the two combatants.

The match ended quickly. Sasuke had stolen a move from Lee and used it to create his own move, which he called the Shi Shi Rendan (Lion Combo).

Two new names flickered onto the screen.

_Sabaku no Temari_

_vs_

_Tenten_

This match was a little longer. Tenten was a long range fighter, just like Temari. Tenten threw her weapons, and Temari blew them away with her fan. That's the way it went for ten minutes, before Temari finally decided to end it, beating the crap out of Tenten.

_Tsuchi Kin_

_vs_

_Nara Shikamaru_

This match made Naruto laugh. Shikamaru used his shadow to make Kin slam her head into the wall.

_Hyuuga Hinata_

_vs_

_Hyuuga Neji_

This match pissed Naruto off to no end. How someone could do that to his own blood was beyond him. Neji kept talking about fate and kept mentally torturing Hinata. Naruto had to admit that Hinata was strong, though. Not physically, but mentally. Every time she got knocked down, she got up again. When Neji was about to strike her heart, the jounins jumped down and stopped him. Neji spouted some nonsense about favoring the main house.

_Aburame Shino_

_vs_

_Abumi Zaku_

The match was slightly brutal. There wasn't much fighting, but Shino sent his bugs into the pipes in Zaku's arms, jamming them. When Zaku tried to use them, the pipes blew up, taking his right arm and almost his left with them.

"I sympathize with that..." Naruto spoke, rubbing his left elbow. "Poor guy."

Next was the battle of the fangirls, Haruno Sakura vs Yamanaka Ino. It was boring, to say the least. They just kept talking through the battle, threw some punches, talked some more, and then, it ended with a draw!

"Worst match ever..." Naruto muttered, shaking his head.

Next was Rock Lee vs Inuzuka Kiba.

Kiba was quickly taken out. Even though he fought bravely, once Gai had given the permission, Lee had taken off his weights, and proceeded to pound Kiba into unconsciousness.

They looked to the screen, and two new names appeared.

_Sabaku no Kankuro_

_vs_

_Sabaku no Gaara_

Kankuro immediately raised his hand.

"I quit!"

Gaara, who'd been walking towards the stairs, glared at Kankuro, before walking back to his spot.

_Akimichi Chouji_

_vs_

_Kinuta Dosu_

This was an extremely quick match. Chouji used his Nikudan Sensha and charged at Dosu, who jumped out of the way, causing Chouji to rush straight into the wall. Then, Dosu punched the inflated Chouji and flicked the sound amplifier on his arm, causing a shockwave to go through Chouji's body, immediately knocking him out.

"That leaves only one match. Uzumaki Naruto and Misumi Tsurugi, please come down here.

Naruto jumped down along with his opponent, a masked Konoha ninja with glasses.

"Unlike Yoroi, even against little punks, I show no mercy." Tsurugi said calmly, gazing coldly into Naruto's eyes. "I'll say it now, if I put my techniques on you, it's over. Give up immediately. I'm going to end this quickly."

Naruto, to his surprise, started laughing.

"Clearly, you don't know me, asking me to give up like that. I'm telling you this. Give up. You don't stand a chance against me."

"Last match, begin!" Hayate announced, and Tsurugi was quick to move. He immediately came at Naruto with a right hook, which was easily blocked by Naruto's left arm.

Naruto blinked.

"What the-" he started, but got no further as Tsurugi's arm started stretching, wrapping itself around his arm. Then, within seconds, his whole body was engulfed in an elastic bear hug, courtesy of Tsurugi, who came up from behind, arms wrapped around arms and legs wrapped around legs. Then, Tsurugi's arm moved away from Naruto's right and wrapped itself around his neck.

"In order to gather information, my body has been altered to be able to fit into any space." Tsurugi informed Naruto, obviously smirking behind his veil. "So, I can keep squeezing until I break your bones. If you don't give up, I'll keep squeezing harder... I don't know what kind of ninja tools you use, but you can't do anything like this. But try something funny, and I won't wait until you give up. I'll break your neck immediately. Hurry up and give up!"

The Konoha teams in the stands were staring in horror as they clearly could hear Naruto's bones creaking. Team 8 and 10 turned to Team 7, only to see them smirking. Then, they looked down at Naruto, seeing him break into a smirk as well.

"Well, Rubber-boy..." Naruto said, struggling to keep his wind pipe from getting crushed. "You obviously... don't know... who you're fucking with!" he roared and extended every single blade on his body. The knee blades, the shin blades, and the blades on his forearm, each of them piercing Tsurugi's rubber-like appendages.

Tsurugi roared in pain, and was about to break Naruto's neck, when the former blond ripped his left arm free from Tsurugi's grasp and moved to punch the rubber man, only for his 'claws' to shoot out, piercing the mans face, killing him instantly.

Naruto took a deep breath as the now limp mans hold on his neck loosened, and he retracted all of his blades, letting Tsurugi fall to the ground.

Leaning his head to the side, he heard some satisfying cracks from his neck and rubbed it.

"Thank Kami... I thought I'd have to go see Chiyo again..." he muttered to himself.

Hayate coughed.

"Winner, Uzumaki Naruto." Hayate announced and coughed into his hand, before continuing. "Well, with this, the preliminary trials for the third test has been completed! Everyone, please come down here!"

The genins got down from the stands, and soon stood in front of Anko, Ibiki and Hayate.

"To all of you who won the rights to compete in the third test in the chunnin exam, even though one is missing, congratulations to you all!" Hayate exclaimed, before turning to Sarutobi. "Well then, Hokage-sama, if you would please..."

"Yes." Sarutobi said and walked forward. "Well, now I'd like to start explaining the main test. As I told you before, in the main event, your matches will be seen by everybody. Each of you will fight to represent the strengths of your countries. I'd like you to show off all your powers with no reserves. Which is why the finals will be held one month from now. This break, as you might call it, will be for preparations."

"What does that mean?" Neji asked, his face still that stoic Hyuuga-face.

"In other words, in addition to informing all the various country lords and shinobi leaders, this is the time needed to arrange for the gathering of the event. And this is also preparation time for you examination students."

"I don't understand what you're trying to say! What does it mean?" Dosu asked.

"Basically, it's the preparation to get to know your enemy and yourself. It's the time period where you calculate your chances of winning by analyzing the data you accumulated during the trial competition." Sarutobi explained, puffing on his pipe. "The battles up to now had you fight as if you were in an actual combat situation with the assumption of fighting an unknown opponent. However, the final trial will not be like this. There are those who showed all that they can do already to their rivals. There are those who competed and were badly injured against a strong opponent. To make everything fair, the one month should be used by all of you to advance and improve yourselves. Of course, it'll be fine to rest your body as well. Well, I'd like yo dismiss you now, but... there's something that has to be done for the finals before I can do that."

"Oh, come on, you old monkey!" Naruto exclaimed, groaning. "We've been here for a good long time, and we want to go home!"

Sarutobi chuckled lightly.

"Well now, don't get so excited. There are pieces of paper inside of the box that Anko is holding, so each of you take one piece."

Anko held up a square box to show the genin what the old man was talking about.

"Now, I'll come around, so wait your turn."

All the genins reached into the box as it was handed to them and drew their numbers. Once they'd announced them, Sarutobi spoke up.

"Alright, now I'll reveal to you the final tournament."

"That's what we drew the numbers for?!" Naruto asked, wide eyed.

"Now, Ibiki, show them the match arrangements."

"Yes, sir." Ibiki said and held up a piece of paper.

_1st match: Uzumaki Naruto vs Hyuuga Neji_

_2nd match: Sabaku no Gaara vs Uchiha Sasuke_

_3rd match: Rock Lee vs Aburame Shino_

_4th match: Sabaku no Temari vs Kinuta Dosu vs Nara Shikamaru_

"Well then, you're free to start planning strategies or resting as you like. With this, I'll dismiss you all, but are there any final questions?" Sarutobi asked, and Shikamaru raised his hand.

"Can I as a question?"

"Yes."

"Since it's a tournament, it would mean that there's only one winner, right? Which would mean that only one person can become a chunnin, doesn't it?"

"No, that's not quite it." Sarutobi spoke, smirking. "There will be judges, including myself, the Kazekage, lords of various countries that will make mission requests and other ninja leaders, who will be watching the final test. Throughout the tournament, these judges will be evaluating your abilities. Those judged to have the necessary qualities of a chunnin will be able to become a chunnin, even if they lose in their first match."

"That means that... it's a possibility that everyone here will become a chunnin?"

"Yes. But there's also the possibility that no one will become chunnin. To advance in the tournament means that you will have more chances to appeal to the judges. Did you understand, Shikamaru-kun?" Sarutobi asked, and Naruto had to speak up.

"So, if you win the tournament, you get nothing?" he asked, scratching his head. "Other than the bragging rights, you get nothing?"

"Correct."

"That blows..."

"Well then, thanks for all the effort you exerted for these trials! You're all dismissed until a month from now!" Sarutobi announced, and Shikamaru and Naruto felt a hand on their shoulders. They looked up to find Kakashi smiling at them.

"Congratulations, you two. Come on, we'll go to the hospital, get Kiba, and then, I'll treat you all to ramen."

"Sweet!"

--Done--

**Well, that's it! I hope the length of the chapter makes up for the time it took for me to update! Sorry, but I can't think of any ideas.**

**R&R  
R&R  
R&R  
R&R  
R&R**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi again! Sorry it took so long! I'm running out of ideas, but I finally managed to get this chapter up!**

--Ichiraku Ramen--

"Man..." Kiba muttered, content with just staring at his ramen. "I can't believe I lost to that green freak..."

"Don't worry about it, Kiba. He was possibly the strongest genin, safe for Naruto and that redhead, you could have faced." Shikamaru said, sighing. "To be honest, I'd gladly trade with you."

Naruto ignored them both and looked at Kakashi.

"You promised something before the second exam, didn't you?" he asked, causing Kakashi to blink.

"I did?" Kakashi asked innocently, putting a hand on his chin. "Oh, yes. I did, didn't I? Ah, I promised to teach you all something cool."

"Yeah, you did." Naruto said, narrowing his eyes. "So, teach us."

"Well, let's go to our training grounds." Kakashi said as he got up, pulling out his wallet.

"Yes, training!" Kiba exclaimed, jumping off his stool, grinning widely, while Akamaru barked happily.

--Later, Training ground 7--

"Alright, I was planning on waiting for a while before I showed you this little trick, but since you all did so well, I'm showing you this now." Kakashi said as he pulled three slips of paper out of his pouch. "Can any of you, except for Naruto, tell me what these are?"

His genin just stared at him.

"Paper?" Kiba asked, making Kakashi smile.

"Good guess, but this is no ordinary paper." he spoke as he channeled some chakra into one of the cards, causing it to crumple. "As you all know, there are five basic types of chakra elements, Fire, Wind, Water, Lightning and Earth. These five elements are the foundation of all jutsu, and the reason the five great countries are named as they are. Naruto, can you take over?"

Naruto sighed.

"Lazy ass..." he said, before clearing his throat. "Most people's chakra naturally lean towards a certain nature. The Uchiha, for example, were full of people with an affinity to fire, thus, they were exceptionally skilled with Fire element jutsu."

"Those matched with Wind are good with Wind element jutsu, Lightning with Lightning element. I, for example, lean towards Lightning, and thus, I am best at Lightning element jutsu." Kakashi explained, before patting Naruto on the shoulder. "Naruto here is a natural Wind and Fire user. You two, on the other hand, are zeros. We have no idea which nature your chakra leans towards."

"Which is why you'll need these." Naruto said and gestured for the papers. Kakashi nodded and held up the crumpled card.

"If you're Lightning natured, the paper gets crumpled. Wind natured, it gets cut in half, Fire, it burns. Water, it gets wet. Earth, it turns to dust. It's a unique paper that reacts to even the slightest amount of chakra. It's made of the trees that are fed and nurtured with chakra for a long time. Channel some of your chakra into them and we'll know their natures immediately."

Kiba and Shikamaru each took a piece of paper, staring at them. Then, they both channeled some chakra into them. Shikamaru's card had gotten wet, and Kiba's had turned to dust in his hand.

"Well then! Shall we start? Earth Nature and Water Nature Manipulation training starts now!" Kakashi said, smiling at the results. "Naruto, wait here, while I get these two started."

Naruto nodded and sat down, while Kakashi lead the two to a nearby stream.

"Alright, your exercises are very much alike." he explained and reached down, picking up a small pebble and tossing it to Kiba. "Kiba, your job is to build on that pebble."

Kiba blinked, staring at the pebble, then at Kakashi.

"What?"

"You are to use your chakra and pick up earth, adding layer after layer of dirt to it. Now, remember, you must add full layers. That way, the bigger the ball gets, the harder it will be, since you need to pick up more dirt. That's where your exercises are similar." Kakashi explained and turned to Shikamaru. "Your job is similar, only you have nothing to start with. You must sit on the water and pick up a drop, and build on it."

"Of course..." Shikamaru muttered as he walked out onto the stream, sitting down in a mediative position. "Leave the hard exercises to me..."

"Oh no, Shikamaru." Kakashi said, smiling. "Naruto will have the hardest exercise." he said and walked off. "Good luck, you two!"

Naruto was sitting by a tree, using his wind chakra to levitate a leaf, and cut of small pieces of it off.

"Good, you're training." Kakashi said with a smile as he walked up to Naruto, his Icha in hand. "Now, your exercise will be the hardest of all."

"I'm ready, sensei." Naruto said, standing up.

"Good, because you will be creating your very own jutsu today."

Naruto's eyes widened. Kakashi elaborated, clearing his throat.

"Of course, you won't be starting from scratch." he said and formed a couple of handseals, before holding out his hand. A crackling sound was heard as his hand got covered in electricity. "This is my one and only original technique, which I'm intending on passing on to you, the Raikiri."

"I've heard about that from the old man." Naruto said, blinking, before looking up at Kakashi incredulously. "You're gonna teach me that?"

"Well, not really. You're not a natural Lightning user." Kakashi said as the electricity died down. "However, I did say you would be making your own technique, meaning, you will modify the Raikiri to fit your tastes."

Naruto blinked.

"You mean..."

"You can decide if you wish to create a Fire, or a Wind version of it."

"Sweet!" Naruto exclaimed, getting an eye smile from Kakashi.

"Now, you already know the Rasengan. That's good, because then, you know how to concentrate chakra to the palm of your hand."

"Wait, sensei." Naruto said and held up his hand, forming a Rasengan. "In that case, a Rasengan is only chakra. Shouldn't I be able to mix my element into it?"

Kakashi smiled happily.

"Good, Naruto. I was hoping you'd figure that out on your own. However, not even your father could mix his chakra nature into the Rasengan, since it requires great control. That's why I wasn't planning on telling you until you had better chakra control. Now, let's forget about that at the moment, and start working on the new Raikiri, which probably won't be called that, since it has nothing to do with Lightning. Which chakra nature do you want to use?"

"Wind his better for long distance, or precise cutting." Naruto said as his Rasengan died down. The Raikiri focuses on punching holes through your opponents, so I'm gonna go with fire, since that resembles Lightning a little."

"Good, Fire it is, then." Kakashi said, nodding. "Well, you saw the seals I used?"

"Yeah, Ox, Rabbit, Monkey." Naruto recited, getting a smile from Kakashi.

"Good. Now, Ox and Rabbit are natural Lightning seals, meaning?"

"Meaning, Lightning jutsus work better when used with those."

"Exactly, and that also means?"

Naruto thought for a moment.

"It means that, if I want to use Fire, I should replace them with Dragon and Tiger, which are natural Fire seals."

"No wonder Hokage-sama never complained about having you as a student." Kakashi said, patting Naruto on the shoulder. "You're a natural. Now, perform the handseals to help gather Fire chakra into your hand, expand the chakra around your hand, and work until you can form the chakra into a cone, or a drill."

Naruto nodded, and was about to perform the necessary handseals, when Kakashi stopped him.

"Naruto, wait. There are a few more things I need to bring up."

Naruto looked at Kakashi expectantly. Kakashi just took out a scroll, opened it and unsealed another scroll, this one much larger.

"I want you to sign this." Kakashi said and handed the scroll to Naruto, who opened it.

"A summoning scroll?" Naruto asked as he looked at the content, to see four names written in it. Hatake Bakushuu Hatake Bakkan Hatake Sakumo and Hatake Kakashi. "T-This is...!"

"The Dog summoning scroll has been in my family since it was created." Kakashi said, still smiling. "I want you to sign it, along with Kiba and Shikamaru once they have enough chakra."

"But this is a family summon! I can't accept this!"

Kakashi just waved him off.

"No, no. I want you to have it. I doubt that I will ever have any children, since I'm not really father material. I intend on passing my knowledge over to you three."

Naruto smiled at his sensei.

"I'm honored, sensei." he said and bit his thumb, writing his name in the scroll with blood, before placing his fingerprints below it.

"Now, try to summon. The seals are Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey and Ram."

Naruto nodded and bit his thumb again, swiping some blood on the palm of his hand and performing the seals, before slamming his palm to the ground with a cry of "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

There was a poof of smoke, and when it cleared, a small, brown pug, wearing a blue vest, appeared, staring lazily at Naruto.

"Yo, youngster! What's up?"

"Naruto, this is Pakkun, one of your cute new Ninken (Ninja dogs). The Ninken pack are great for tracking, and also attacking your enemies from underground."

"Oh, you gave the scroll to someone new, Kakashi?" Pakkun asked, and Kakashi nodded.

"Yup. This is Naruto, my student. And once they have big enough chakra reserves, I will give the scroll to my two other students, Shikamaru and Kiba."

Pakkun hummed, before nodding.

"Alright, that makes sense." he said and waved at Naruto. "Good to meet you, Naruto. Summon us any time you want. I'll tell the others."

"Alright, thanks, Pakkun." Naruto said with a smile, and Pakkun disappeared in another poof of smoke.

"Now, one other thing." Kakashi said, his smile dropping as he turned serious. "The Raikiri and Rasengan are assassination jutsu. If I ever find out that you have used them on another Konoha ninja, I will not hesitate to kill you for it."

"Don't worry, sensei. The old man has already told me that about the Rasengan." Naruto said with a smile. "However, he also told me that I am allowed to use it on other Konoha ninjas if they attack me, and I have no other choice."

"Well, I thought that was a given." Kakashi said, his smile returning. "As long as you don't use it in cold blood on a comrade, I won't keep you from using it. Now, get to work."

"Ossu!"

--1 week later--

Sarutobi was sitting in his office, doing his paperwork and smoking his pipe peacefully, when the door was slammed open, and his last loyal student stepped inside. Tsunade wasn't really a missing-nin, but she had declared that she wanted nothing to do with Konoha, thus leaving Jiraiya as the last loyal student of the Sandaime Hokage.

"Jiraiya? What are you doing here?" Sarutobi asked calmly, but perked up when he saw the triumphant grin on his student's face. "You released a new book?" he asked, a tiny bit of hope in his voice.

"No, sensei. I've done something better." Jiraiya said, puffing out his chest with pride.

"Do tell."

"I found her."

"Who?"

"Kushina!"

Sarutobi's pipe fell from his mouth.

"What?! Where?!"

Jiraiya grinned, obviously proud of himself.

"It wasn't easy, you know. I only got a lead a couple of days ago, and I had to pull a lot of strings to just find out where she was a week ago..."

"Well, where is she?"

"I don't know." Jiraiya said with a shrug. "I had to write a letter and give it to one of my contacts, and he would make sure she got it."

"Well, what did you write?"

"I asked her to come to Konoha for the chunnin exams, and that we had some very interesting genin this year."

"You didn't ask her if she hated Naruto?"

Jiraiya sighed.

"If I did, and she actually hates Naruto, then I doubt she'd come if I'd asked her that. I gave her a date, and it's up to her whether she wants to come or not. If she doesn't, I will find her and talk to her face to face."

Sarutobi sighed as he picked up his pipe.

"Let's just hope that she comes."

Jiraiya nodded, sitting down to give his monthly report.

--1 week later--

"Alright, let's stop for now." Kakashi said, staring at the molten rock in front of him. "You're doing great."

"It's not hot enough." Naruto said, panting as he stared at his aching right hand. "And the chakra burns me as well."

Kakashi nodded and walked up to Naruto.

"It's true that you need to work on it some more, however, you're making great progress. Now, on the other hand, we need to get to another stage in your training."

"Another stage?" Naruto asked, getting a nod from Kakashi, who took out four metal rings.

"Yup. Having destructive powers means nothing if your enemy is fast enough to block or dodge it. Therefore, we will be training your speed."

"Yo, Naruto!" came Kiba's voice, making them turn around.

"Yo, Kiba! How's training?"

"Awesome. Mom's teaching me a new technique, and she's training my speed."

"Hey, Kiba, I've been thinking." Naruto said, scratching his head. "I've heard you talk about your mom a lot, but never your dad. What's up with that?"

Kiba scoffed.

"My dad? He left the village when I was three."

"How come?" Kakashi asked, also taking an interest in the conversation, since he'd wondered why Inuzuka Tsume was single.

"Well, dad just married her to get a clan status. Later, mom found out, fixed him with one of her glares, and he bailed. He hasn't set foot in Konoha ever since."

"Your mom sounds scary."

"Oh, she is..." Kiba said as he shuddered. "You have no idea..."

"Naruto, put these on." Kakashi said as he handed over the metal rings to Naruto. "Put them around your wrists and ankles."

Naruto nodded and took the rings, putting them on. Kakashi put his hands in the Ram seal, and Naruto was sent eating dirt, feeling like a mountain was attached to his wrists and ankles.

"What the hell?! This is too heavy, sensei!" Naruto roared, and Kakashi just smiled.

"You're going to have to get used to it, since once you've added weight to those things, you can't remove any."

"You lazy, perverted bastard!"

Kakashi just kept smiling, taking out his Icha.

--1 week later--

Sarutobi was once more doing his paperwork, which never, _ever_, seemed to end, when the door opened, revealing a woman with long, blood red hair that reached down to her waist, dressed in the navy blue clothes of a Konoha ninja, only without the vest, or a headband, followed by a girl, who looked to be around 16, with blood red hair that was tied in two pigtails. She had a few streaks of blond going through her hair, and she wore the same kind of clothes as the old woman, only the were a little baggy on her. Sarutobi smiled at the woman.

"Kushina, you're back! I take it you got Jiraiya's letter?"

"I got it, and I'm sure it's about that demon, who dares take the form of my son." Kushina said, narrowing her eyes at Sarutobi, who sighed.

"He's not a demon, Kushina. He never was, and he never will be." he said, before looking towards the younger woman. "And I'm sure you have told little Taki-chan here of what a horrible demon Naruto-kun is?"

"Don't mention his name." Taki said, growling. "He's making a mockery of my little brother! Why isn't he dead?"

"Because he is not a demon, which I have told this village for the last 13 years. Of course, no one believes it. I never thought that you, Kushina, of all people, would doubt Minato-kun's sealing skills."

"Was this the only reason you wanted me back? To see that the demon is still alive?" Kushina asked, making Sarutobi narrow his eyes.

"The reason I called you back was because I wanted you to see that he isn't the demon everyone claims he is! And you can be sure that I won't allow you to leave this village until you see that. I could have easily marked you as a missing-nin any time during these years, but I didn't. However, if you leave again, I will see to it that you cannot rest, always having to look over your shoulder for Hunters."

Kushina narrowed her eyes at the old man.

"I could go to the council."

"Only the civilian council hates Naruto-kun, Kushina-chan." Sarutobi said, smiling sweetly. "And they have no say in shinobi affairs."

"This isn't over, old man..."

--Training ground 7--

"Hey, Naruto." Kakashi said as Naruto had just melted another rock. Naruto turned around and saw Kakashi holding out a black bundle of cloth. Naruto took it and raised an eyebrow.

"You gave me... a tank top?" he asked, getting a hidden grin from Kakashi.

"With a built in face mask!" he exclaimed, smiling. "It'll make you look more mysterious, and most people would do anything to see what's underneath it."

"Um... Thanks, I guess." Naruto said, taking off his tank top to put the other one on. "But why, though?"

Kakashi smiled.

"Well, you have the scar over your left eye and all... I've always wanted a mini-me."

Naruto sweatdropped. Then, he recovered and grinned.

"In that case." he said and pulled down his headband to cover his eye. Kakashi just smiled.

"By the way, you're going to have to train by yourself for the rest of the week." Kakashi spoke, making Naruto look at him. Kakashi scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, I kinda have to train Sasuke for the exams. I don't want to do it, but the council has found some way around Hokage-sama, and has ordered me to train him, due to my Sharingan. I won't teach him much, though. I promise."

"You better not." Naruto said, narrowing his eye at Kakashi, who smiled as he walked away.

Naruto got back to channeling his chakra into his hand, when he felt a new presence behind him. Quickly turning around and pulling a kunai out of his pouch, he threw it at the bushes, only to hear a clang as it was deflected.

"Now, now, there's no need for that." came a voice that he recognized.

"I know you." Naruto said calmly. "Dosu, right?"

A chuckle was heard, and the bandaged ninja came out of the bushes.

"Indeed. You are Uzumaki Naruto-kun, correct?"

"You know I am."

"Yes, I do, but I felt it was appropriate to ask." Dosu said as he walked over to Naruto. "I have a proposition for you."

"Oh? What might that be?"

"I couldn't help but notice that, in the second test, you seemed very close to Hokage-sama."

"And?"

"And, I want to meet with him." Dosu said, knowing that it was near impossible for a foreign ninja to meet with the Hokage. "I wish to defect from Otogakure no Sato, and join Konoha ranks."

Naruto stared at Dosu for a while, before nodding.

"I'll take you to him, but don't think you'll be alone with him for a second."

"I expected nothing less." Dosu said, nodding.

--Later, Hokage's office--

Sarutobi stared hard into Dosu's one eye while puffing on his pipe. Dosu and Naruto both sat in the two chairs in front of Sarutobi's desk.

"Well then, Kinuta Dosu-kun, Naruto-kun here tells me that you wish to defect from Oto."

"That's correct, Hokage-sama." Dosu said with a nod. "You may or may not know that Orochimaru is the Otokage."

"I knew that already." Sarutobi said, nodding. "Continue."

"Yes, Hokage-sama. Orochimaru claims that he wishes to help us. Nearly everyone in Otogakure is an orphan, and he offered us an escape. However, only now do I realize that we were nothing but pawns for him, which I realized when Orochimaru ordered us to kill Uchiha Sasuke in the Forest of Death. However, he never told us that he had given Sasuke his Curse Seal. And now, after my teammates failed the second test, they have mysteriously disappeared. I believe that he may have killed them, and if you would let me become a Konoha ninja, I will happily tell you everything I know about Oto."

Sarutobi stared hard at Dosu for a few moment, making the Oto genin sweat. Then, he turned to Naruto, who had been staring intently at Dosu.

"Well, Naruto-kun?"

"He didn't lie."

"Well then." Sarutobi said as he turned back to Dosu. "Tell me what Orochimaru plans to do in Konoha."

--1 week later--

Naruto, Lee, Shino, Shikamaru, Neji, Sasuke, Gaara and Temari stood in the Konoha stadium with a senbon chewing proctor in front of them.

Naruto looked around and noted something.

"Hey, Shika, that Dosu isn't here."

"I've noticed." Shikamaru said, nodding. The proctor turned his head towards them.

"Hey, stop looking around. Face the customers. In this main tournament, you guys are the stars."

"Thanks, everyone, for coming to the Hidden Leaf chunnin selection exam!" Sarutobi announced, now standing up in the Kage box. "We will now start the main tournament matches between the 8 participants who made it through the preliminaries! Please stay and watch until the end!"

The proctor turned to the chunnin hopefuls, reaching into his vest and taking out a piece of paper.

"There's something I'd like to tell you before the matches. Look at this."

_Uzumaki Naruto vs Hyuuga Neji_

_Sabaku no Gaara vs Uchiha Sasuke_

_Rock Lee vs Aburame Shino_

_Sabaku no Temari vs Nara Shikamaru_

"There have been some minor changes to the tournament."

"Oi..." Naruto said, getting the attention of the proctor.

"Yes?"

"Sasuke isn't here yet, what are you gonna do?"

"If he doesn't appear by the time of his match, he'll receive a default loss." the proctor said, before clearing his throat. "Alright, guys, this is the final test. The arena is different, but the rules are the same as in the prelims. There are none. You fight until one of you dies or acknowledges defeat. But if I determine that the fight is over, I'll step in and stop it, you got that? Now, the first match, Uzumaki Naruto... Hyuuga Neji. Those two stay here, while the rest of you go to the waiting room."

Shikamaru leaned in towards Naruto as he was about to head up.

"He's a Hyuuga. Though he can see almost 360 degrees, if you make him mad, or distracted, focusing on one spot, he'll be blind to everything else." he whispered, getting a grin from Naruto.

"Thanks." Naruto said, and Shikamaru just nodded, before heading up to the competitor's box.

Soon, Naruto and Neji were alone with the proctor, facing each other. Neji smirked as he activated his Byakugan.

"Let me give you a piece of advice. Surrender. Fate has decreed that I win." he said, only to find that Naruto was looking up at the sky. "Hey!"

Naruto looked at Neji, looking clueless.

"Huh? You say something?"

In the stands, Gai and Lee cried, spouting about hipness, while Kakashi, somewhere, felt very proud.

"Now, the first fight... begin!" the proctor announced, before jumping away, while Neji got into the Jyuuken stance.

"You're confident about close quarter combat, right?" Naruto asked calmly as he made a cross shaped handsign. "Kage Bunshin no jutsu."

With a poof of smoke, ten exact copies of Naruto appeared, all looking lazy. Suddenly, the ten Narutos charged at Neji, who smirked as he proceeded to quickly dispel the clones, who all looked like they were trying their best to hit him.

Up in the stands, Kiba was sitting between his sister, Hana, and his mother, Tsume.

"He doesn't look like much, Kiba." Hana said, not looking impressed. "You'd think that, after everything you've said about him, he'd be able to take care of one genin."

Tsume agreed, while Kiba smirked.

"He got you too, huh?" he asked, getting puzzled looks from his family. "Don't you see? It's perfect. He's acting weak, so that Neji will underestimate him. I'm sure he already has a plan that will win this fight, he just plans to humor Neji a little first."

Tsume scoffed.

"I'll believe it when I see it."

Naruto stared as his clones were dispelled, and the memories were returned to him.

"Yes, well... I believe I have to..." he muttered, more to himself, as he crossed his fingers again, and created thirty clones this time. "You all know what to do."

The clones nodded and charged, while Neji did as well. Soon enough, the clones were all dispelled, and the crowd was getting bored.

"You're persistent, aren't you?" Naruto asked, while Neji smirked.

"It's over now, dropout." Neji said as he dropped into another stance. "You are within field of my divination. Hakke: Rokujuuyonshou!"

Neji charged, and slammed his fingers into Naruto's body.

"Nishou! Yonshou! Hachishou! Juurokushou! Sanjuunishou! Rokujuuyonshou!"

Naruto's body was pelted with Neji's finger stabs of doom, closing off his tenketsus while sending him flying.

Up in the stands, Kushina and Taki were smirking, seeing Naruto in pain.

"Serves him right, don't you think?" Kushina asked, getting a nod from Taki.

"Yeah. I never thought I'd actually find satisfaction in seeing someone in pain."

"You're not seeing someone in pain." Kushina said, and Taki nodded again.

"Right. I'm seeing some_thing_ in pain."

The people around them, who'd seen Naruto for what he was, looked disgusted as they moved away from the two, while secretly wondering if they sounded that bad during their periods of hate.

Neji smirked at Naruto's prone form.

"See? You cannot escape your destiny."

Naruto groaned as he struggled to his feet.

"Why are you going on and on about destiny and Fate?" he asked, turning to glare lightly at Neji.

"Fine, I'll humor you." Neji said, his smirk dropping as he untied his headband. "Let me tell you, dropout, about the Hyuuga's Curse of Hatred." he said and removed his headband, to show a seal in his forehead. "The Hyuuga Main Family has a special ninjutsu that's been passed down. It's a Curse Seal jutsu. The curse of the mark represents a 'bird in a cage.' It is the symbol of being tied down to an inescapable destiny. One day, when I was four, I had this horrible seal carved into my forehead through that Curse Seal jutsu. That day, a grand ceremony was taking place in the leaf. A shinobi leader from Kumo, which had been warring with Konoha for years, had arrived to sign an alliance treaty. But at this ceremony, which everyone attended, from jounin to genin, one clan was missing. That was the Hyuuga clan. Because that was the important day that the Hyuuga heiress turned three. Hinata-sama's third birthday. My father, Hyuuga Hizashi, and Hinata-sama's father over there, Hyuuga Hiashi-sama, were twins. But Hinata-sama's father, Hiashi-sama, was born to this world first, a member of the Main family. And my father, the second son, became a member of the Branch Family. When the Hyuuga first daughter grew and became three, I was turned into 'the bird in the cage' through this curse. As a Hyuuga branch Family member."

"So... you're pissed because you got a tattoo when you were four?" Naruto asked, making Neji growl.

"This mark on my forehead is not simply a decoration. This Curse Seal is the absolute fear of death given to the Branch Families by the Main Family. With a secret hand seal, the Branch Member's mind can be easily destroyed... Death is just as easy, of course." Neji said, never breaking eye contact with Naruto, who stared back, just as calm. "And this curse will only disappear after death. Sealing up the ability of the Byakugan along with it. The Hyuuga house is a clan that holds great advanced blood. Those that go after those secrets are incalculable. So, with this jutsu, the Branch Family is allowed to live only to protect the Main Family. No disobedience is allowed by the Main Family... It's an effective system, created to eternally protect the advanced Byakugan blood of the Hyuuga. And... that incident occurred..." he explained, closing his eyes.

'Oh, no... Incoming sob story about how he's suffered more than the rest of us...' Naruto thought, and almost groaned, but kept his composure. Neji opened his eyes again, glaring.

"My father was killed by the Main Family. One night, Hinata-sama was taken by someone. Then, Hiashi-sama quickly took care of it, and killed him. It was dark, and he was wearing a mask. Who do you think it was?"

"The Kumo ambassador." Naruto guessed, surprising Neji. "I read about a Hyuuga incident involving him, and that's the only Hyuuga incident I've heard about. Please, continue, oh tortured soul."

Neji glared, but continued anyway.

"Yes, it was him, who had just signed the alliance treaty. It became clear that he was here after the Hyuuga secrets from the beginning. But Kumo, with one of their leaders killed in the failed plan, made demands of Konoha for breaking the alliance. Of course, Konoha and Kumo bickered back and forth. It almost came to war. But with Konoha wanting to avoid war, they made a back door deal with Kumo. Kumo wanted the Hyuuga Main Family's advanced blood and the Byakugan. They demanded the corpse of Hiashi-sama. And Konoha agreed to their wishes. And war was safely avoided... thanks to my father, who was killed by the Main Family to replace Hyuuga Hiashi's corpse. To escape this horrible curse, there's no method but death. They were twins, their strength was virtually the same... born first... born second... Destiny was decided just by that. And this fight... your destiny was decided the moment I became your opponent. Your destiny is to lose to me."

"That's it?" Naruto asked, blinking. "That's your reason for being in a constantly pissy mood?"

"Of course! You can't talk, dropout, because you don't know what it's like to carry a seal that can never be removed!"

"I can tell you two things in what you've said that are wrong. The first is the part of me losing to you. My blood is on you, and my sensei taught me a very neat trick."

Neji didn't even have time to react, before two dogs burst from the ground, biting down on his ankles, while two others came up, biting his arms, Pakkun bit his chest, and a huge bulldog came up from behind and bit him in the shoulder.

"Meet my very cute Ninken." Naruto said, smiling. "They were prepared to fight you, so they laced their teeth with chakra, much like your Jyuuken."

Neji was surprised to find that, when he tried to use chakra, nothing happened. Naruto smirked as he pulled down his mask and gripped his shirt.

"Now, spoiled brat, let me tell you... about _my_ Curse of Hatred." Naruto said and took off his shirt, revealing a heavily scarred body. It was riddled with slashes, burns, stabs... everything. But what stood out the most, was the seal on his stomach. "Since you were kind enough to give me a small history lesson, let me give you one." he said and cleared his throat. "Now, 13 years ago, this village was relatively peaceful. Then, one day, the Kyuubi no Youko, the strongest of the Bijuu, attacked. The villagers didn't know what to do. They stood no chance against the mighty demon. However, rescue came in the form of the late Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato."

Neji scoffed, despite the pain he was in.

"I know that already."

"Oh, I'm not done yet, Neji. The Kyuubi is the strongest of all demons. No mere human could ever hope to kill it. So, the Yondaime came up with another method. He took a child, who was born on that very day. A child whose chakra coils hadn't been developed yet. He took the child, and he brought it out on the battlefield. Then, he performed a jutsu, a forbidden one, to summon a being even greater than the Kyuubi. That being was Shinigami-sama himself. The Yondaime paid Shinigami-sama with his soul to seal the demon into the child in his arms. That child was me, Neji." Naruto explained making Neji, and everyone of the younger generation, save for Kiba and Shikamaru, go wide eyed. "The Yondime's final wish was for me to be seen as a hero. However, his wish was completely ignored! My mother, she saw me as a demon, took my sister, and left the village. Of course, the villagers also saw me as a demon, and to protect me, and make sure that I could make friends, the Sandaime Hokage made the sealing an S-rank secret, punishable by death. Only the Hokage and I have the authority to reveal it. But I'm getting off topic. The villagers saw me as the Kyuubi, like I said, and did everything in their power to make my life a living hell. You complain about a seal that's hardly ever used on you. Tell me, Neji... Have you ever been beaten to within an inch of your life on a weekly basis? Has anyone poured oil on your body and lit it on fire? Has anyone ever sawed your limbs off with a kunai?"

Neji was speechless, and so was the crowd. Naruto grinned.

"So, stop being a bitch, smile every once in a while, and believe that there is something good out there, or you'll go mad. Now," he said and took out a kunai, walking up to Neji, putting it to his throat. "forfeit, or I won't hesitate to take your life."

"Never!" Neji muttered, while Naruto sighed.

"Proctor..."

"Hyuuga Neji is unable to continue the match. Winner, Uzumaki Naruto."

The crowd was quiet. Naruto didn't care, though. He just walked away, picking up his shirt and dismissing his Ninken, letting Neji fall to the ground in disbelief, activating the Byakugan again.

'Impossible! Not only did he summon those animals without me seeing them... he reopened his tenketsus!'

Then, the crowd broke into wild cheers, overcoming their shock. Naruto was surprised at this, but kept walking anyway.

In the stands, Kiba grinned at his stunned family, while the one-eyed, one-eared partner of Tsume, Kuromaru, chuckled lightly.

"Impressive kid. To withstand all that... And to top it all off, he summons the Dog Pack... They've never accepted anyone other than the Hatake family as their summoners. And that seemingly endless stamina of his... He could be mate material, Tsume, Hana."

The two Inuzuka females blushed.

The proctor hummed, looking around.

"It appears that Uchiha Sasuke isn't here. We'll have no choice, but to-"

He was interrupted when, in a swirl of leaves, Kakashi appeared, along with Sasuke. Kakashi looked up.

"Are we late?"

"Your student was almost disqualified." the proctor said, getting a smile from Kakashi.

"He's not my student." he said, before disappearing with another swirl of leaves.

"Well, Sabaku no Gaara, can you come down here, please?" the proctor asked as he sighed, wanting to do nothing, but go home and get some sleep. Sleep was good.

As Gaara appeared in the arena with a swirl of sand, Kakashi appeared in the competitor's box, next to Naruto, who was keeping his distance from the others, who were on the other side of the box.

"Yo, Naruto. How was your match?" he asked, getting a shrug from Naruto.

"Meh. I beat him, showed him that he's not the only one who's suffered, and managed to perform the Tsuiga no Jutsu (Tracking Fang technique). All in all, it was... a relief. I finally got that off my chest."

"So... you told everyone?" Kakashi asked, getting a nod from Naruto. Kakashi stared at Naruto for a moment, seeing that he was looking... distracted. "Are you alright?"

"My mother and my sister is here."

Kakashi's eye went wide, and he looked out towards the stands.

"Where?"

"Right here."

Naruto and Kakashi both turned around to find Kushina and Taki walking into the competitor's box.

"K-Kushina-nee!" Kakashi said, looking shocked. "You're back!"

"Don't be so happy about it." Naruto said as he turned towards the arena, where Sasuke was desperately trying to get away from Kakashi's sand. "They wouldn't be here if Sarutobi-sensei hadn't threatened to send Hunter-nins after them if they left."

Kakashi looked at Naruto.

"So, they're...?"

"Yup. They hate my guts."

"Well, why shouldn't I?" Kushina asked, glaring at Naruto. "You took my husband and my son from me!"

"In case you hadn't noticed, your son is standing right here." Naruto said, narrowing his eye. "I don't get how people can mistake me for a giant, demonic fox, who'd stop at nothing to destroy this village..."

"Your lies won't work on us, Kyuubi." Kushina said with a growl. Kakashi was about to retort, when Naruto stopped him and glared at Kushina.

"Do I look like a girl?" he asked, causing Kushina, Taki and Kakashi to stare at him, blinking.

"What?"

"Do I look... like a girl?" Naruto repeated, slower this time, as if talking to a child.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Naruto laughed.

"Everything, _mother_, everything. Because, you see, Kyuubi is a girl, named Megami, and she is kinder than anyone in this village. The only reason she attacked, was because a Sharingan wielding maniac forced her to."

"Naruto, you never told me about this." Kakashi said, getting a shrug from Naruto, who turned back to the arena again.

"You never asked. I've only told two people about that, and one of them is Sarutobi-sensei."

Taki was the first of the two females to speak.

"Then... you're..."

"Your powers of observation are stunning." Naruto said with a dry laugh. "I wished you'd realized that before I got my limbs cut off..."

Kushina was about to speak, but found that Kakashi was suddenly in front of her.

"Kushina-nee... I don't think he'd like to talk to you two anymore." he said as he lightly pushed her towards the stairs. "Besides, this box is for competitors and their senseis only."

"Sasuke is a fool." Naruto spoke as Kakashi was leading Kushina and Taki away, stopping all three of them. "No matter what training you gave him, he can't beat Gaara."

"What makes you say that?" Kakashi asked, getting a masked smirk from Naruto, who turned to him.

"Gaara is like me. He's going to kill Sasuke."

"So... I stop the fight?" Kakashi asked, and Naruto shrugged.

"I don't know. If you want to."

Suddenly, a block of sand slammed Sasuke into the wall, unconscious.

"Crap!" Kakashi exclaimed as Gaara sent his sand to kill the Uchiha, and used a quick shunshin to help him.

Gaara seemed extremely upset that Kakashi stopped him from killing the Uchiha, but just settled for glaring at him, before heading up to the competitor's box.

"Winner, Sabaku no Gaara!" the proctor announced, before looking up at the competitor's box. "Rock Lee and Aburame Shino! Come down!"

"Proctor, I forfeit." Shino announced, while Lee looked devastated.

"Why?!"

"My bugs drain chakra, and you don't use it. My weapon is useless against you." Shino said calmly, and the proctor sighed.

"Winner, Rock Lee! Nara Shikamaru and Sabaku no Temari! Come down."

"Maybe I should forfeit as well..." Shikamaru muttered, getting a grin from Naruto.

"Oh no, you don't!" Naruto exclaimed as he pushed Shikamaru over the railing.

"O-Oi!" was all Shikamaru could say, before slamming painfully into the ground, while Temari calmly floated down into the arena on her fan.

Shikamaru just laid on the ground, not really wanting to get up, when Naruto said something.

"Oi, Shika! If you fight these matches, I'll let you stay at home for five D-ranked missions!"

That was all the motivation Shikamaru needed, and he got up, standing ready in front of Temari.

The match was boring. Shikamaru did nothing. He just dodged Temari's attacks and every once in a while tried to catch her with his shadow. Then, once he actually managed to catch her, he gave up! Naruto buried his face in his palm, while Kakashi, who was back at Naruto's side, sighed.

"By the way, Naruto..." Kakashi said as he looked up from his Icha. "Gaara's ultimate defense will be tricky... Have you perfected your new jutsu?"

"No, but I've found a way around the problem for this match."

"Oh? Tell me."

Naruto chuckled and looked up at his sensei.

"That would ruin the surprise, sensei." he said as he jumped into the arena when his name was called.

Gaara stared hard into Naruto's eye as they faced each other in the arena.

"I will enjoy killing you, Uzumaki Naruto."

"I think I'm gonna have to take this seriously." Naruto said as he reached towards his headband, pulling it up and activating his eye.

Up in the stands, Taki turned to her mother.

"Do you think he spoke the truth?"

"I don't know. I doubt it." Kushina said, though her mind was telling her that she was an idiot.

In the Kage Booth, Jiraiya poofed in next to Sarutobi's chair, grinning.

"How's it going, sensei?" he asked, and Sarutobi chuckled.

"Well, you missed Naruto-kun's first match, but you're just in time for his second."

"Oh, he's up against that Gaara kid, huh?" Jiraiya asked, smirking as he leaned against the backrest of Sarutobi's chair. "This match will be interesting."

Meanwhile, the Kazekage was looking at the two from the corner of his eyes.

'This is bad... But as long as the Sound Four gets the barrier up in time, I'll be alright.' he thought, before turning his attention back to the arena.

"First match of the second round, Uzumaki Naruto vs Sabaku no Gaara, begin!" the proctor exclaimed, before getting as far away as possible.

Naruto smiled at Gaara.

"So, which one do you have?" he asked, getting a somewhat puzzled look from Gaara. "Ichibi, Nibi? Maybe even the Sanbi?"

"The one-tailed sand spirit, Shukaku is sealed within me." Gaara said, getting a nod from Naruto.

"Ah... Does he speak to you?" he asked, and Gaara nodded. "Mine speaks to me, too. She's not what I'd expect from the strongest of all demons. She's... kind. However, according from what she's told me, the Shukaku is a little loony, isn't he?"

Gaara grunted as a sudden pain hit his head.

"Your blood... he wants it..."

"He'll have to get in line." Naruto said, smirking. Suddenly, a wave of sand was sent in his direction, and he immediately dodged. Naruto looked up at the stands, at Kakashi, who was talking to Gai. "Oi! Sensei! Can I take them off?"

Kakashi looked at Naruto and gave him a thumbs up. Naruto grinned and put his hands in a Ram seal. However, before he could do anything, he had to dodge another wave of sand. So, while running to get away from the sand, he put his hands in the seal again.

"Kai!"

The metal rings around his wrists and ankles fell off with a click, and he felt a lot lighter. Grinning widely, he took off, faster than the genin and chunnin could follow. In the stands, Gai was wide eyed.

"That speed! How did he achieve that?"

"Oh, for the last two weeks, he's been wearing weights, like Lee-kun. However, due to his insane healing, he's been able to up the weights by 30 pounds every day. And he started out at 300."

"Why would he need to attain such speed?" Gai asked, before blinking. "Unless... You didn't?"

"Kinda." Kakashi said with a shrug, while Naruto ran in circles around Gaara, constantly delivering blows to the automatic defense.

Naruto went wide eyed when he was suddenly stopped. He looked down to see that his left hand had been caught in Gaara's sand, and was slowly creeping upwards.

"Shit!" he exclaimed and brought out a kunai, running it a lap around his arm by the elbow, before forcefully ripping it out, resulting in the flesh and skin staying in the sand, while his bionic arm slipped out for all to see. Putting some distance between him and the psychotic redhead, Naruto sighed, holding up his arm and flexing it.

"Close call, that one..." he said, before looking up at Gaara. "However, I don't make the same mistake twice, so, from here on, you will lose."

With that, Naruto blurred away, appearing underneath Gaara immediately and kicking him in the chin, sending him flying. However, he didn't let the redhead fly far, grabbing his collar and pulling him back, burying his knee in his gut. Then, he roundhouse kicked Gaara in the face, sending him skidding across the arena floor.

Pushing himself to his feet, Gaara looked, showing that his face was cracked.

"So... You have another defense?" Naruto asked, amazed. "That's cool. I only get healing from Megami-chan." he said, before thinking something. 'Why don't I have an ultimate defense?'

"I'm not the defensive type of demon, Naruto-kun." Megami said, obviously grinning. "As you know, I'm the destructive type."

'Right.' Naruto said, nodding to himself as he looked at Gaara, who'd placed his hands in the Ram seal, causing a dome of sand to form around him. "Oh no, you don't!"

Naruto rushed forward and threw a punch at Gaara. However, he wasn't fast enough, and the dome closed, shooting sand spikes out of it, which would have pierced Naruto, had he not maneuvered his body at the last second, only getting scratched.

"Snap!" Naruto exclaimed and jumped away, just in time to avoid the spikes, which extended themselves at amazing speed, trying to skewer him.

A sand eye materialized above the dome, and Naruto jumped back even more, landing on the arena wall.

"I guess I have no choice. I'll have to use that jutsu..." he muttered as he formed three hand seals, Dragon, Tiger, Monkey.

Kakashi went wide eyed, next to Gai, whose eyes turned dinner plate-sized.

"Kakashi! The seals are different, but I know that stance, and I know that gathering of chakra to his hand. You didn't teach him that, did you?"

"Teach him what?" Chouji, who was sitting next to Ino and Sakura, next to where Kakashi and Gai stood, asked, looking puzzled.

"My eternal rival's one and only original technique, an assassination jutsu that is said to be able to cut through a lightning bolt, the Raikiri!"

"Close, Gai." Kakashi said, studying Naruto, who held out his hand as fire started gathering in his hand. "However, Naruto isn't aligned with Lightning, like I am. Therefore, it's impossible for him to learn it. That's why he created his own version of it. This technique is called..."

"Ranran Dageki (Flaming Strike)!" Naruto announced as the fire chakra around his hand formed itself to look like an arrowhead.

"However, Naruto..." Kakashi continued, more to himself than to Gai. "The flame isn't hot enough yet..."

Naruto, as if sensing what his sensei said, looked up and smirked as he formed a half ram seal, before placing his hand against his shoulder. Suddenly, around the flames in his hand, the wind picked up. The fire turned so hot, it became blue in color.

"Oh, nice, Naruto." Kakashi said, surprised that his student came up with the solution.

"What did he do?" Gai asked, leaning forward.

"As you know, Wind ups the power of Fire attacks. Naruto is aligned with Fire and Wind. He created the Dageki, and fueled the flames with his Wind chakra, increasing the temperature."

Naruto smirked at Gaara's sand dome.

"This is the end!" he exclaimed and took off at impressive speed. He charged at the dome, using his X-ray function to see where Gaara was in it, and stabbed his hand into it, piercing Gaara's shoulder.

The entire arena was quiet. Naruto heard a whisper coming from inside the dome.

"What is... this warm stuff...? Mother... what did..."

Then it got quiet, until...

"UWAAAAH!! BLOOD! MY BLOOD!!"

"Stop crying, you big baby!" Naruto exclaimed as he tried to pull his hand out, only to find that it was stuck. "Stop crying, and give me my hand back!"

No answer, so he growled.

"Fine then!" he roared and pumped more fire chakra into the jutsu, getting another cry of pain from Gaara as he pulled his hand out.

Naruto was about to sigh in relief, when a clawed hand made out of sand shot out of the dome, forcing him to dodge. In his mind, Megami went wide eyed.

"This is...!"

"Shukaku, huh?" Naruto asked as the hand drew itself back into the dome.

The dome collapsed, and Gaara stood there, clutching his bleeding and burned left shoulder, a crazed look in his eyes, which were filled with disbelief.

Naruto was about to attack, when his bionic eye picked up on something.

"A jutsu?" he asked and looked up to the stands, to see that the civilians, and the shinobi who lacked the proper skills, had fallen asleep. "Genjutsu."

He looked up towards the Kage Booth, only to see it erupt into smoke. He saw how the Kazekage jumped out of the smoke, holding Sarutobi hostage.

Jiraiya and four ANBU pursued, only for four Oto-nins to land on the roof they were on, about to perform some kind of jutsu.

"Shit!" Naruto exclaimed as he brought out his cannon, filling a quarter of it with Fire chakra and firing at the six armed Oto-ninja closest to him.

"Ninpou: Shishi Enjin!" the four Oto ninjas announced in unison, and a barrier started taking form around the Kazekage and Hokage, only for it to crumble when a ball of fire slammed into the side of the six armed ninja, knocking him off balance.

Jiraiya grinned as he looked down at the arena.

"Nice, Naruto!"

Naruto gave him a thumbs up.

While he was looking away, Gaara's siblings and his sensei had landed in front of him. The proctor landed next to Naruto, glaring at the Suna ninjas.

"Fool!" the Suna sensei told Gaara, who was on the ground, clutching his head. "Trying to transform into your complete form before the signal!"

"He's experiencing the side-effects! It's impossible to proceed now!" Temari said, crouching down next to the redhead.

"Then what are we supposed to do?!" Kankuro asked, looking slightly panicked. "Do it without Gaara?!"

"Abort the mission." the sensei said, getting shocked looks from his students. "Take Gaara and retreat."

"What about you?!" Temari asked, and her sensei narrowed his visible eye. "I'll join the battle. Go!"

"Y-Yeah..."

The Suna ninjas jumped away, while Naruto and the proctor stared at the Suna jounin.

"Is the leader of this party... Orochimaru?" the proctor asked, getting a grin from the jounin.

"Who knows? Let's just join the fun!"

"Hey, Naruto." the proctor said, getting Naruto's attention. "The exam is over."

"I know." Naruto said as he covered his eye with his headband, not wanting to suffer from chakra exhaustion during an invasion.

"You go pursue Gaara and the others. You're already at chunnin level, if not jounin. If you're a Konoha shinobi, make yourself useful."

"I was actually planning on helping you here." Naruto said as he narrowed his eyes at the jounin. "This guy reeks of Hayate-san's blood."

"Thanks for caring, kid, but I'm not a jounin for nothing." Genma said, smirking. "Go."

Naruto grunted and jumped off, into the stands, where he found Shikamaru wide awake.

"Shikamaru, we're going after the Sand trio, so don't be lazy and come on."

"I know." Shikamaru said as they took off.

As they ran, Naruto stopped and swiped some of the leftover blood from his bionic arms onto his palm and performed a couple of hand seals, before slamming his palm into the ground.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

In a poof of smoke, Pakkun appeared, waving his paw.

"Yo, Naruto! What's up?"

"You smell a vile chakra, right?" Naruto asked, and Pakkun sniffed around.

"Yeah. It's heading north, out of the village."

"Lead us, okay?"

"You got it, Naruto." Pakkun said, before taking off.

As they jumped through the village, soon entering the forest outside it, Pakkun started sniffing the air, before looking back.

"Hey, you guys, pick up the pace! From behind, two squads with eight, no... one more, nine men are chasing us!"

"Already?!" Shikamaru asked in disbelief. "You've gotta be kidding!"

"Don't look as if they've got a fix on our true position yet, but they're closin' in on us fast while on the lookout against any surprise attacks."

"Shit! They're probably all beyond chunnin level..." Shikamaru muttered. "If they catch up with us, there's a good chance that we'll be annihilated!"

"So, do we ambush them?" Naruto asked, and Shikamaru answered.

"We'd certainly have a great advantage if we were to ambush them. Even if they're more than us, as long as we can surprise them-"

"It's no use." Pakkun said, sighing. "Those guys are the subordinates of Orochimaru, a former Konoha-nin. They know our tactics."

"Damn..." Shikamaru muttered, before turning to Naruto. "In that case, I'll stay behind."

"Why?" Naruto asked, narrowing his eye. "Don't do anything stupid, Shikamaru!"

"I won't. I'll act as a decoy, and lead them away from you, while you go after Gaara."

"That _is_ stupid! You'll be killed!"

"Nah, it's cool. I'll circle around and lead them back to the village, where I can get some backup."

"You're not a good liar, Shikamaru." Naruto said, getting a smile from Shikamaru.

"I know, but it felt better to say that. Now, go!" he ordered as he landed on a branch.

"Damn it!" Naruto cursed as he sped up, intent on finding Gaara as quickly as possible, and then come back to help Shikamaru. "Pakkun, they're heading straight, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Go back to Shikamaru. If things start getting bad... howl, or bark, or something, so I'll know."

"I got it." Pakkun said with a nod as he turned back.

Naruto sped up even more, but almost stumbled when he heard a noise to his right.

"Oh, you're...!"

--With the Sand Trio--

"That redhead is after us..." Kankuro muttered as he stopped, handing over Gaara to Temari. "Take Gaara and go. I'll stall him." he said and walked forward a little. The bushes rustled, and out came...

"You! What are you doing with Konoha?!" Kankuro asked, and Dosu smirked, pointing at his new headband.

"It's much more comfortable, being a Konoha ninja. Here, you don't get killed if you fail a mission, or made into an experiment."

"That's not hi-" Temari started, but was stopped by a sudden pain in her side. She looked down to find Naruto with his arm tearing through her ribcage. Gaara slumped, his eyes closed.

"Two birds with one stone, I guess you can call that." Naruto said calmly. Temari also slumped, everything turning dark.

Kankuro turned back, seeing both his brother and sister dying at the hands of Naruto's Ranran Dageki.

"Temari! Gaar-"

He stopped when he found Dosu's sound amplifier by his ear.

"It's over." Dosu said calmly an flicked the amplifier.

Kankuro let out a cry of pain, clutching his head as he fell to the ground. Dasu stared down at his writhing form, and then back up at Naruto.

"POW?" he asked, and Naruto shrugged, pulling his hand out of the two Suna siblings.

"If you feel like carrying him. I gotta go back and help Shikamaru. I'll see you back at the village."

Dosu nodded, while Naruto took off. Once Naruto was gone, Dosu looked down at Kankuro, taking out a kunai.

"Too bad for you, I'm lazy."

--With Shikamaru--

Shikamaru sighed. He stared up at the clouds, preparing for an attack from the nine Oto ninjas.

'I was going to be a so-so ninja and earn an okay salary, marry a regular girl, who'd be neither a beauty or a hag... have two kids, first a girl, and after that, a boy... Then, I'd retire when my oldest girl got married, and my son became independent... After that, I'd play Shougi and Go all day long, living a relaxed and easy retired life... Then, I'd go of old age before my wife... I wanted that kind of life...' he thought, sighing again. 'And then, I tried to do my best, which is so unlike me... I wanted to end normally, and then... I really did such a troublesome thing here.'

His Kage Mane died down, and he panted, looking over the ninjas.

"It's like you said... looks like I've reached my limits..."

"Hey, how about you come out now?" one of the Oto ninjas said, calling out to the ninth ninja, who was hiding in the trees. "And while you're at it, why don't you lop his head off for him?"

Shikamaru's eyes widened as he felt someone land behind him. He turned around and saw the ninth ninja raising a kunai, preparing to stab Shikamaru in the head. Then, a flame covered hand burst out of his chest, splattering blood over Shikamaru.

The Oto ninja died before he even had the time to react. The hand was pulled out, and the ninja fell, to show Naruto standing behind him, panting.

"Geez, four of those, having the eye activated, creating over 40 Kage Bunshin, firing my cannon, summoning Pakkun... Even _I'm_ starting to run out of chakra."

"Naruto!"

"It's just another kid." one of the Oto ninjas said, narrowing his eyes. "Get him!"

"Try it!" Naruto exclaimed as he got in front of Shikamaru, extending his 'claws.'

He charged at the first ninja, burying his claws into his chest. Then, he pulled them out, spinning around and extending his shin blades, slamming them into the face of another ninja. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another ninja coming at Shikamaru, so, he raised his cannon, firing a Wind bullet at him.

The ninja heard a whistling sound, and looked towards Naruto just in time to see a ball of Wind chakra slam into his face, slicing it to ribbons.

Naruto's little moment of concern for his teammates cost him, as another ninja came at him from behind, swinging a ninjato. Naruto dodged out of the way from a downwards slash, but not in time. The blade dug into his left shoulder and sliced his arm off.

Letting out a cry of pain, Naruto turned and glared at the ninja, grabbing his collar.

"Bastard!" he exclaimed and jumped up, slamming his knee up into the ninja's chest as he extending his knee blade, killing him. He turned to the last four ninjas, panting heavily.

"Five down... Four left..." he muttered, slowly walking towards them, only to fall to his knees, finally having used up too much chakra. 'Damn it... This is bad...'

The ninjas grinned behind their masks, and were about to advance on the two genin, when a twin cry of "Gatsuuga!" was heard. Naruto blinked and saw the four remaining ninjas get torn to pieces by four spinning projectiles. They stopped spinning, and Naruto found himself staring at Kiba, Akamaru, Tsume and Kuromaru. He smiled weakly.

"You're late, Kiba..." he muttered, before collapsing into unconsciousness.

--Some time later--

Naruto woke up, finding himself in a bed in the hospital, his usual room. He looked to his left, and found that his whole arm was attached.

"What the hell?" he asked as he tried to move the arm, only for nothing to happen. "Oh, right... Chakra exhaustion."

The door opened, and Unohana Retsu, his usual doctor, came inside. Her eyes widened when she saw that Naruto was awake.

"Oh, Naruto-kun! You're up!" she said, breaking out into a smile. "We were sure you'd be asleep longer."

"Ah, Retsu-chan." Naruto said, sitting up painfully. "Could you explain why my arm is... well, here?"

"Oh, that. Well, it seems that our dear Chiyo-baasama had prepared for such an occasion, and had not only prepared an upper arm for you, but also a whole right arm. We attached the upper arm to your last prosthetic one, and attacked it to your shoulder. Your new right arm, should you ever need it, is in your apartment."

"It's like she wants me to lose every single one of my limbs..." Naruto muttered, getting a nod from Retsu.

"Indeed. She had also made two full legs for you."

Naruto grunted, laying back down.

"How did the invasion go?"

"We fought back, and we won. If it wasn't for you, Hokage-sama would be dead." Retsu said, making Anruto raise an eyebrow.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, apparently, Jiraiya-sama and Hokage-sama were both hard pressed against Orochimaru, meaning, if you hadn't shot one of the ninjas who were supposed to create a barrier, Hokage-sama would have been alone, and most likely died."

"And how are my teammates?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that. I haven't met them yet." Retsu said, her smile dropping. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I'm sure they're fine." Naruto said, and not a second later, his door was slammed open, and Shikamaru, Kiba and Kakashi walked into the room.

"Yo, Naruto! I see you're awake!" Kiba exclaimed, grinning. "How are you feeling? You used up a lot of chakra back there."

"I'm fine. I just want to get out of here as soon as possible and go to Ichiraku." Naruto said, his stomach growling. "I'm sorry, Retsu-chan, but the food here is horrible. If it wasn't for the fact that other patients also complain, I'd think you were trying to poison me."

"Funny, that's what all the other patients say." Retsu said, laughing lightly. "Well, as soon as you're able to walk properly, you're free to leave."

Naruto shot out of bed, only to fall flat on his face. Kakashi chuckled as he walked over to a nearby dresser, finding Naruto's newly washed clothes neatly folded on it, with his boots on the floor.

"Alright, Naruto, put these on, and we'll come back with a pair of crutches for you." he said as he tossed the clothes to Naruto, who smiled.

"Thanks, sensei."

"Well, come on, guys." Kakashi said, pushing his other two students towards the door. "Let's go find him a pair of crutches."

Retsu smiled at Naruto.

"I'll leave you alone, Naruto-kun." she said as she headed towards the door as well.

--1 hour later, Ichiraku--

Naruto, Kakashi, Shikamaru and Kiba were sitting in the ramen stand, happily slurping down their ramen. Well, Kakashi was just sitting by, doing nothing.

"You all did great during the invasion." he said, smiling at them all. "I'm proud of you all. You are really worthy of calling yourselves Konoha ninjas."

"But if mom and I hadn't showed up, you two would be dead, so I think a little gratitude is in order." Kiba said, looking mighty pleased with himself.

"You're right. Thanks, Kiba." Naruto said, patting Kiba on the back.

"Yeah, and thanks to you, Naruto." Shikamaru said, smiling at Naruto. "If it wasn't for you, I would've been dead even before Kiba came."

"By the way, Kiba, how did you know where we were, and that we needed help?" Naruto asked Kiba, who grinned.

"Pakkun came and told me that you two had split up, and that Shikamaru was in trouble."

"See? I told you the Dog Pack was a good summons." Kakashi said, smiling at his team. "Well, Hokage-sama told me that he wanted to see you, Naruto, and you, Shikamaru. I'm sure it's about chunnin promotions."

"Man, I feel left out..." Kiba muttered, sulking. Naruto grinned and patted him on the back.

"Come on, Keebs! You can always try again."

"I guess you're right about that." Kiba said, nodding to himself. "No use crying over spilled milk, huh?"

"Yeah." Naruto said and tried to move his left arm, only to find it stuck. He desperately tried to move it, but it didn't move an inch. "Damn chakra exhaustion..." he muttered, getting chuckles from his teammates and sensei. "By the way, does anyone know what happened to my mom and Taki?"

"They managed to get to the emergency shelter in one piece." Kakashi said, raising an eyebrow. "Why do you wanna know? I thought you wanted nothing to do with them."

"I don't want anything to do with them, but they're still family, sensei. As much as I hate to admit it, I don't want anything to happen to my family, meaning you guys as well."

"Family?" Kiba asked, going wide eyed. "You consider us your family?"

"Of course I do! We've been doing pretty much everything together for a little less than a year!" Naruto said, smiling. "You two are like brothers to me."

"And me?" Kakashi asked, giving Naruto an eye-smile. "What am I to you?"

Naruto grinned.

"You're the perverted uncle no one wants to talk about."

Kakashi sweatdropped, but started laughing with his genin.

"No, you're like an uncle to me, sensei." Naruto said once he'd calmed down. "I can't say that you're like a father to me, since I don't know what it's like to have one, but I guess you're the closest thing I have to it."

Kakashi stared in shock at his student for a while, before smiling.

--Later, Hokage's office--

Naruto, Shikamaru and Kakashi stood in front of Sarutobi's desk.

"Nara Shikamaru-kun." Sarutobi said as he got out of his chair, picking up one of the chunnin vests on the desk and handing it to Shikamaru. "For showing extreme intelligence, and the proper qualities of a chunnin commander, the ability to know when to give up and abandon the mission in favor of saving your comrades, I am honored to promote you from genin to chunnin."

Shikamaru sighed as he took the vest.

"This is gonna mean more responsibilities for me, isn't it?"

Sarutobi just chuckled as he grabbed the other vest, handing it to Naruto.

"Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto-kun. Yesterday, you not only showed the necessary qualities of a chunnin, you saved my life, the lives of your comrades and this village with the knowledge that you may die. For that, I am proud to give you the title of chunnin."

Naruto took the vest and bowed his head.

"I am honored, Hokage-sama."

"Also, for saving my life, I am forever in your debt." Sarutobi said and reached into his robes, taking out what looked like a plate for a headband, made out of solid gold, with the Konoha symbol on it. "Please, accept this, and wear it proudly. Only one of these exists in each village, to show that someone has performed a great service for their Kage."

Naruto took the plate with wide eyes.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama."

"No, Naruto-kun." Sarutobi said, smiling. "Thank you."

Naruto put on the vest and grinned.

"I need some new clothes. Maybe a long sleeved shirt with a mask. That sounds good."

--Done--

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	6. Chapter 6

**I'm back with yet another long chapter! Woohoo!**

--Unknown location--

Inside a dark cave, nine projections flickered to life, all nine of them staring at each other.

"_I just received some news,"_ a spiky haired projection said, closing his eyes. _"The Ichibi jinchuuriki is dead."_

"_That can't be too bad, can it, un?"_ another projection asked, one of his eyes covered by his hair. _"I mean, the Ichibi will come back to life, right?"_

"_When a bijuu dies, it fights its way out of Hell and back to earth,"_ another, one with a pair of three tomoe Sharingan eyes, said, sighing. _"The weaker they are, the longer it takes to get out."_

"_Meaning, un?"_

The spiky haired projection opened his eyes.

"_Meaning, it could take up to 100 years before the Ichibi gets out of Hell."_

"_So, then..."_

"_The Kyuubi jinchuuriki has ruined our plans..."_ a tall one carrying something on his back said, growling. _"We should chop off his limbs..."_

"_He is currently under the protection of Konoha. Or rather, under the protection of Copy Ninja Hatake Kakashi, Jiraiya of the Sannin, and the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hizuren."_

"_Un. I heard those last two are insanely strong."_

"_Those heathen bastards wouldn't stand a chance against Jashin-sama,"_ a purple eyed projection said, carrying a three-bladed scythe on his back. _"Send me there, and I'll show the jinchuuriki not to mess with the Akatsuki."_

"_Hokage-sama and Jiraiya fought together against Orochimaru, who used Edo Tensei."_

"_Edo Tensei?"_ another one with a dark voice and green, pupil-less eyes asked, blinking. _"Who did he summon?"_

"_According to Sasori's spy, he summoned the Shodai and the Nidaime Hokage."_

"_The Shodai?"_ the gruff-sounding one with the green eyes asked with a chuckle. _"That takes me back."_

"_Plus, from what I've heard, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki knows the secret technique of the Yondaime."_

"_The Hiraishin?"_ the Sharingan wielder asked, his eyes widening ever so slightly.

"_Indeed. He used it in Wave, against former member of the Seven Swordsmen, Momochi Zabuza."_

"_Oh, the brat beat Zabuza, huh?"_ the tall one with the thing on his back asked, chuckling. _"That's impressive for a 12-year old."_

"_I believe he is soon to turn 13, Kisame,"_ the Sharingan wielder said, getting another chuckle from the tall one.

"_That doesn't matter, it was still impressive."_

"_How about his family, un? Can't we kidnap them and lure the brat into a trap?"_

"_That would work, if he actually liked his family,"_ the spiky haired one, obviously the leader, said, sighing. _"His mother and sister hates him, and he hates them. Kidnapping them wouldn't help our cause."_

"_So... What about our plan?"_ Kisame asked, blinking. _"What do we do now?"_

"_I believe that our goal cannot be achieved anymore,"_ the leader said as he looked over the others. _"Therefore, we will show the Kyuubi jinchuuriki what happens when you mess with Akatsuki's plans. I will call you all again. Dismissed."_

With that, the projections flickered away.

--Meanwhile--

Naruto sneezed, causing his Ranran Dageki to burn his hand.

"Damn it!" he cursed as he deactivated the jutsu. "Who the hell could be talking about me? Maybe it was that Yutaka girl?"

"What happened to that girl, anyway?" Shikamaru asked, leaning against a nearby tree, while Kakashi was off, teaching Kiba a new Doton jutsu.

"Meh, she went back to her village, for some reason. I don't know. She never went on that date with me..." Naruto muttered as he walked over to Shikamaru, sitting down. He had now changed his tank top for a black version of Kakashi's shirt, along with a pair of black gloves with a plate on the back of his hands. His gold plate was attached to his shoulder, glinting in the sunlight.

"It's nice, isn't it?" Shikamaru asked, looking up at the clouds. "A little peace and quiet."

"Yeah... But we're just gonna get more and more missions now," Naruto said, getting a raised eyebrow from Shikamaru.

"How come?"

"Well, we lost a little less than half our forces, and we need to make repairs to the village. However, missions keep coming in, and we can't turn them down, because that would be like telling our enemies that we are weakened. So, especially after an invasion, it would be best to take every single mission, to show Iwa and maybe even Kumo that the invasion didn't even faze us."

"So troublesome..." Shikamaru muttered with a sigh. "Couldn't we all just get along?"

"You're too smart to ask something like that," Naruto said, chuckling, getting a small chuckle from Shikamaru as well.

"Yeah, I guess..."

A chirp was heard, and a small bird came flying over to Naruto, landing on his knee. He sighed.

"See? We're actually called to take a mission."

"I never thought I'd loathe seeing birds..." Shikamaru muttered as he got up, getting a chuckle from Naruto, who rose to his feet as well.

"Oi, sensei!" Naruto called over to Kakashi, who was by the stream, while Kiba was practicing the Shinju Sanshu no jutsu (Headhunter technique).

"What is it, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, looking up at his students.

"We've got a mission! Get Kiba out of the hole and come on!"

Kakashi chuckled and looked down at Kiba, who buried to the neck, struggling to get out.

"Alright, Kiba... That's how the enemy is supposed to look, not the caster..." he said and placed his hand on the ground next to Kiba's head, sending a wave of chakra into the dirt, loosening it up. He grabbed Kiba's head and forcefully pulled him out of the ground.

"Damn it! This is hard, sensei!"

"Doton training is hard, Kiba," Kakashi said calmly as he put his hand on Kiba's shoulder, while Akamaru jumped up into his master's arms. "You need to learn to loosen up the earth as you go. It'll take a while, but you'll get it."

"Yeah..." Kiba muttered dejectedly as Team 7 headed off.

--Later, Hokage's office--

"Team 7, I have a very important mission for you, which you will take along with Jiraiya here," Sarutobi said and pointed behind his chair. As if on cue, Jiraiya poofed in, grinning.

"Yo!"

"Jiraiya-sama?" Kakashi asked, blinking. "What kind of mission could need a Sannin?"

"During the fight with Orochimaru, I realized that I have grown old, far older than a Kage should be. So, I named Jiraiya here my successor, but..."

"I told him to shove the hat up his ass," Jiraiya said, still grinning. "So, we are going to go find my other teammate, Tsunade, and bring her back."

"Um, question," Naruto said, raising his hand.

"Yes, Naruto-kun?" Sarutobi asked, smiling at the boy, who was looking puzzled.

"Um, didn't you say that she left because she didn't want anything to do with this village?"

"Then how will we bring her back to be Hokage?" Kiba asked, staring at the Sannin and Hokage incredulously.

"We convince her!" Jiraiya said, grinning. Naruto rolled his eye.

"Oh, that'll be easy... Piece of cake, even!"

"That's the spirit!" Jiraiya said and opened the window. "I'll see you guys at the west gate in 30 minutes!"

Naruto blinked as he watched Jiraiya leave.

"I was being sarcastic..."

--1 hour later--

"Man..." Naruto muttered, placing his hands behind his head. "This sucks... I don't wanna find an old hag with a grudge against Konoha..."

"It's-" Kakashi started, only for Naruto to interrupt him.

"-an official mission, and I can't complain, since it's my duty as a Konoha ninja to complete the missions given to me, I know. It doesn't mean I have to like it, though..."

Kakashi smiled at his student.

"Hey, Jiraiya-sama..." Shikamaru said, looking up at the Sannin with a puzzled look on his face. "Why would we need a Sannin, a jounin, two chunnin and a chunnin level genin just to bring someone back to the village? Especially during times like this, when we need to take as many missions as possible?"

"You're observant, Shikamaru," Jiraiya said calmly, not looking back at the recently promoted chunnin. "The reason is that I have received word that Orochimaru might try to recruit Tsunade as well, and if he comes, we'll need as many ninjas as we can."

"So, there's a chance we might fight a Sannin?" Shikamaru asked, and Jiraiya nodded, making him sigh. "What a drag..."

"That's the reason I brought your team with me. Kiba has a great nose, and can immediately smell if the snake is nearby, and give you the opportunity to think of a plan to ambush him. Kakashi, Naruto and I would then attack. Simple as that."

"Yeah, simple..."

Suddenly, Naruto felt a prick in his arm and looked down, to see a kunai lodged into his upper arm. Holding the kunai... was Kiba...

"What the hell?" Naruto asked raising an eyebrow, getting a grin from Kiba.

"Well, you're not really hurt by it, right?" Kiba asked, and Naruto growled.

"No, but I still feel the sting. Now, what did you do that for?"

"I had to try it. I mean, the arm's not real, right?"

"No, but-" Naruto stopped when he felt a prick in his foot. He looked down, saw a kunai sticking out of his foot, and looked up to glare at Shikamaru. "Hey!"

"Sorry, but the temptation was too big," Shikamaru said, smiling sheepishly.

"Still, you're ruining my clothes, and- Would you stop that?!" Naruto screamed, turning to Kiba, who'd been continuously stabbing Naruto in the arm. "I just bought this shirt!"

Kiba just grinned, while Naruto walked up to the front with Jiraiya and Kakashi.

"Hey, Naruto... My kunai," Shikamaru said pointing at Naruto's foot.

"I'm keeping it!"

--The next day, unknown location--

The nine projections came to life in the cave again. The leader spoke up.

"_Itachi, Kisame, stop hunting the Kyuubi jinchuuriki for now."_

"_Why? We're so close to him right now."_

"_He is accompanied by Hatake Kakashi and Jiraiya-sama, Kisame. We couldn't beat them all,"_ Itachi said, getting a sigh from Kisame.

"_Still, why?"_

"_I have made some changes to the King of Hell statue. We will be able to extract the other bijuu without needing the Ichibi."_

"_That's lucky, un."_

"_So, we need to get the Kyuubi jinchuuriki last, or it will upset the balance. Every bijuu has to be extracted in order, which was what the Kyuubi jinchuuriki messed up for us. However, I have found a way around it. For now, we will need three years to prepare the statue. Everyone, stay low until then."_

"_What about the Kyuubi jinchuuriki?"_ Itachi asked in his monotone voice. _"His growth is... stunning, to say the least."_

"_In three years, if he has grown too strong for both of you... I will go after him,"_ the leader said calmly, before looking around. _"Dismissed."_

--A small town near Konoha--

"Oi, Ero-sennin," Naruto said as Jiraiya and the rest left the hotel they'd been staying in for the night. "Tell me the real reason you wanted us with you."

"Real reason?" Jiraiya asked, raising an eyebrow. "I don't follow."

"If Orochimaru really was sending his forces to find Tsunade, you wouldn't have brought us. You would have brought Kakashi-sensei and two or three more jounin."

"Damn, saw right through me, huh?" Jiraiya asked, grinning while scratching his head sheepishly. "Well, the real reason was that a group is after you. They're called Akatsuki, and they're after..." he started, but trailed off when he remembered Kiba and Shikamaru.

"The Kyuubi, right?" Shikamaru asked, making Jiraiya go wide eyed. "You don't need to act all secretive. We already know about it. Naruto told us in the Forest of Death."

"Ah..." Jiraiya said and looked at Naruto. "You do know the meaning of an S-rank secret, right?"

"I do, and I also know that I am allowed to reveal the secret to anyone I want. And I told nearly everyone during the chunnin exams."

"So much for that secret..." Jiraiya muttered, rubbing his temples. "Anyway, the Akatsuki is after the bijuu. They are an organization consisting of nine, formerly ten, S-rank criminals. I don't know who the members are, save for one, and I don't know what they plan to do, but what I do know is that they're coming after the bijuu."

"Talk about a pain in the ass..." Shikamaru muttered, groaning. "So, Naruto will be hunted by nine S-rank criminals?"

"Yup."

"Who's the one you know about?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow. "They must be very secretive if you of all people can only find out the identity of one member."

"Orochimaru was once a member of Akatsuki, and for some reason, he left it."

"Man, I don't wanna get attacked by S-rank criminals..." Shikamaru said with a sigh.

"And I don't need another part of my body replaced with metal..." Naruto muttered.

"You need to learn how to defend yourself properly, Naruto. You're too reckless when you're fighting. In the invasion, you got the rest of your left arm chopped off, for example," Shikamaru said, getting a scoff from Naruto.

"If I remember correctly, my arm got cut off defending you, so you're the one who need to learn how to defend himself."

"Touché..."

Naruto smirked the rest of the way to the next town.

As they reached the next town, Naruto blinked as he stared down into what could only be described as a crater. It was a huge crater, and the city was built in it.

"Welcome to Crater City," Jiraiya said as they headed down a long set of stairs.

"Amazing," Kiba said with a grin. "The view from up here is excellent!"

"Alright, Kakashi," Jiraiya said as he glanced at the jounin, who looked up from his book. "Take your team and train. I'm going to gather some information on Tsunade's whereabouts."

Naruto rolled his eyes. He'd been on a couple of training trips with Jiraiya before. He knew just what happened during his 'information gathering.'

"However, Kakashi, I'm gonna need you to loan me some money." At Kakashi's raised eyebrow, Jiraiya explained. "Information costs money. You know that."

"I suppose," Kakashi drawled as he reached into his kunai pouch, taking out his wallet and holding it out. However, before Jiraiya took it, Naruto's hand shot out and snatched it away. Kakashi blinked while Naruto cradled his wallet, Kakashi, Shikamaru and Kiba's.

"O-Oi!" Kiba exclaimed, only now noticing that Naruto had stolen his wallet. "What are you doing?!"

"Keeping your money out of Ero-Sennin's lecherous grasp, that's what I'm doing," Naruto said, glaring daggers at Jiraiya. "That man is loaded. He doesn't need to borrow any money. He's just cheap as hell!"

Jiraiya's eye twitched, and he glared right back at Naruto. "You ungrateful brat! Here I go out of my way to train you when you were growing up, and this is how you repay me?!"

"Guilt won't work on me, you lecher! Use your own money!"

The two glared at each other, while Kakashi, Shikamaru and Kiba stared at them. Then, Jiraiya growled.

"Fine! I guess I'll have to pay for myself this time!" he yelled as he stomped off, steam coming out of his ears. Naruto let out a sigh of relief as he handed back everyone's wallets.

"Mind explaining?" Kakashi asked, returning to his book.

"The last time I went on a training trip with him, he had to 'gather information,' and needed me to loan him some of my hard-earned money. He ended up spending all of it on alcohol and women, and he still hasn't paid me back, the cheap bastard," Naruto muttered, crossing his arms. Kakashi just chuckled.

"Ne, let's get something to eat, shall we?" he asked as he looked at his students. "My treat. I never did take you to a celebratory dinner for making chunnin, did I?"

Shikamaru and Naruto smiled, while Kiba grumbled, crossing his arms. Naruto grinned and slung an arm around his shoulder.

"Look at it this way, Keebs. You get free food now, and then, you'll make chunnin next time, and Sensei will have to treat us again!"

Team 7 Know-How, lesson 1: The easiest way to cheer up Inuzuka Kiba is to dangle the prospect of free food in front of him.

Kiba, as expected, grinned widely, while Akamaru barked happily.

After wandering around the festival that was currently taking place in Crater City for a while, Kakashi being forced to treat them to friend squid, dango, onigiri, and a whole bunch of delicious foods, they reached a bar, where they could hear Jiraiya's lecherous laughter coming from inside.

They stepped inside, to see Jiraiya on a couch, sitting with a young woman on either side of him. He had a drunken blush on his face, and was laughing stupidly. Naruto smirked.

"Take a good look, guys," he said loudly, getting the attention of Jiraiya and the girls, while Shikamaru and Kiba just gaped at the sight. "The Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya-sama, has fallen victim to time, and has been reduced to nothing but a drunken old lecher."

"Eh?! That's the Legendary Jiraiya-sama?!" Kiba exclaimed loudly in a surprised voice that was completely faked, and obviously so. "I thought he was just another perverted old man!"

Jiraiya twitched in annoyance, while Shikamaru cleaned out his ear.

"Man, this is troublesome. I'd rather train than just stare at a washed up old man."

Another twitch.

"Don't worry, Shikamaru," Kakashi said with an eye smile. "Let's go train, and leave the has-been to his drinking.

Right now, Jiraiya's eyes were twitching dangerously, and he was grinding his teeth as Team 7 left the bar.

The next day, the whole group left Crater City, everyone smirking at the grumbling Jiraiya. Well, Kakashi didn't. He was just reading his book.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei?" Shikamaru asked suddenly. "If Orochimaru shows up, how are we gonna handle it?"

Instead of Kakashi, it was Jiraiya who responded. "According to my information, that Kabuto kid who went through the chunnin exams with you is Orochimaru's right-hand man. If Orochimaru shows up, he will no doubt have Kabuto with him. You three will handle Kabuto, while Kakashi and I handle Orochimaru."

Shikamaru reached into his kunai pouch, taking out a scroll and a pen, instead of the usual brush and ink. "Alright, what are Kabuto's abilities, judging by what you've seen?"

"He's an experienced Medic-nin," Kakashi informed them. "He is able to even stop his own heartbeat, and still live. I have no doubt that he's above your level. I'd say he's closer to my own," he said, making his team go wide-eyed. "Therefore, you will not fight him alone."

"Medic-nin. That makes him a close-range user," Shikamaru said as he started writing in his scroll. Kakashi smiled at Shikamaru, while Kiba and Naruto grinned.

Team 7 Know-How, lesson 2: Things that get Nara Shikamaru motivated: Shougi, Go, Chess and coming up with strategies.

Jiraiya looked impressed as he watched Shikamaru writing down around 20 strategies in the scroll, saying that he had 20 more. 'What an impressive guy,' he thought as he looked over Team 7. 'A genius strategist, an Inuzuka prodigy, judging by what I've heard, and Naruto, another prodigy... Kakashi, you picked up an interesting team.'

"Alright," Jiraiya said with a smile. "Let's pick up the pace. I want to reach Tanzaku Gai by sunrise!"

--The next day--

"Correct me if I'm wrong..." Kiba muttered as they stared up at Tanzaku Gai, "but I'm pretty damn sure this town is famous for the castle it has."

"Yeah..." Naruto mumbled as they stared up at the place where the castle was supposed to be, only staring into space. "So... where's the castle?"

"Something is terribly wrong here," Jiraiya said as he ran off. "Let's go!"

Team 7 followed closely, rushing up to the castle. As they stood on a wall up on the gigantic plateau, all they saw of the castle was rubble. Naruto, Shikamaru and Kiba gaped, while Jiraiya and Kakashi just looked over the castle with a serious looks in their eyes.

Then, however, Kiba perked up, sniffing around. "Hey! I smell snakes and that Kabuto bastard!"

Everyone's heads turned to him, and Jiraiya said, "Lead the way, Kiba!"

Kiba nodded and rushed off, with Kakashi on one side and Jiraiya on the other, Naruto and Shikamaru bringing up the rear. They headed around the ruined castle, and reached a wall, which had been completely crushed.

"The trail mixes here," Kiba said as he sniffed around. "Two others were here. The snake scent ends here, same with Kabuto's."

Jiraiya hummed. "Kiba, follow the new scent."

"Roger!"

With that, they headed off.

--1 hour later--

Jiraiya and Team 7 stepped into a bar, where the new scent stopped, and Jiraiya froze as they entered, staring at the other end of the bar. There, sitting in a booth, was a busty blond, with some kind of jewel on her forehead. Next to her was a young, black haired woman... and a pig...

Jiraiya blinked, and then pointed at the woman. "Tsunade!"

"Jiraiya?!" the blond exclaimed, a blush on her face, indicating that she'd had a lot to drink. "What are you doing here?"

Jiraiya let out a sigh of relief. "Finally, we've found you."

Naruto, Kiba and Shikamaru just gaped, not really looking at Tsunade's face, but rather her breasts. Kakashi smiled and urged them to follow Jiraiya, snapping them out of their shock as they sat down in the booth with Jiraiya, while Kakashi sat down next to the black-haired woman. Jiraiya smiled at Tsunade, who sighed.

"What a day... Seeing old acquaintances everywhere..."

"Orochimaru?" Jiraiya asked, pouring her some sake. "Did anything happen?"

Everyone noticed Tsunade glare at the black-haired woman, who looked like she was about to speak up.

"Nothing much," Tsunade said. "Just a little greeting. How about you? Why did you come to see me?"

"The Sandaime has decided to retire," Jiraiya said with a smile. "About time, if you ask me. Anyway, he has requested for you to be the Godaime Hokage."

"What's the point?" Naruto asked as he stretched. "She's just gonna refuse. In my opinion, we should go back to the village, and make someone like Kakashi-sensei our Hokage."

Kakashi's jaw dropped at that, and he stared at Naruto in shock. "M-Me? Naruto, don't be an idiot."

"Why not? You'd do well. Better than the drunken Sannin," Naruto said, making Tsunade turn to him, staring at him intently.

"Jiraiya," she said finally. "Who is this boy?"

"Uzumaki Naruto," Jiraiya said, making Tsunade's eyes widen. "You already know Kakashi. The other two are Nara Shikamaru and Inuzuka Kiba," he introduced with a smile. Then he got serious. "So... What's your answer?"

"Impossible," Tsunade said. "I refuse."

Jiraiya just snickered, while the others looked shocked, save for Naruto. "I remember that line. Back in the day, I asked you out, and you said the same thing."

"See? She refused," Naruto said. "Can we go back to the village now?"

"I actually agree," Kiba said, crossing his arms, getting a nod from Shikamaru.

"Same here."

"Sorry, no can do, guys," Jiraiya said as he gestured for Tsunade. "This person right here, Tsunade, is the only person who can become the Godaime Hokage. She was the one that brought us victory in battle. No one has been able to acquire her techniques. Also, Tsunade is the granddaughter of the Shodai Hokage. So, she's the most appropriate person for the position," he explained with a smile. "This decision was made by the Sandaime, and the other top members of Konoha. Small fry like you guys have absolutely no say in this matter."

Kiba growled, Shikamaru twitched, and Naruto growled as well.

"You don't have to call us that with a smile on your face," Shikamaru muttered, getting nods from his teammates.

"The Yondaime's legacy," Tsunade said with a smirk. "He seems worse than him... in terms of looks, speech and intelligence."

Naruto twitched.

"Well, it's tough for anyone to be compared to the Yondaime," Jiraiya said with a grin. "Because he really had the talent to become a top-rate ninja. He as smart, reliable, and handsome like me, too!"

"But even the Yondaime died young," Tsunade said coldly. "He gave up his life for his village. Life is different from money. It can't be risked that easily. Whoever puts it at risk so easily is a fool. My grandfather and the Nidaime both focused too much on bringing peace to out home, more than anything else. But as a result, they just died in the middle of their dreams, like the losers..."

"You've changed a lot, Tsunade," Jiraiya said grimly as he shook his head in disappointment. "I don't know what you've been thinking all this time, but you've just said all that's on your mind."

"Well, I'm already in my 50's. Age changes people," Tsunade said, shrugging. "It's the same for Sarutobi-sensei. He's too old to live in his dreams." Naruto clutched his fists, and Kiba, Shikamaru, Kakashi and Jiraiya all tensed when they heard Tsunade's next words. "Being Hokage is crap. Only an idiot would take the title."

In a flash, Naruto shot up and lunged at Tsunade, but everyone reacted quickly. Kiba and Shikamaru grabbed him around the waist, while Kakashi pushed him down on the table.

"Let me at her!" Naruto yelled as he reached for Tsunade, his claws popping out from between his knuckles on his left arm, stopping only a quarter of an inch away from the shocked Tsunade's face. "No one insults my family or sensei in front of me and lives to tell the tale! I'll rip out your tongue!"

"Calm down!" Kakashi ordered, even though he, too, felt an urge to tear Tsunade apart for insulting the Hokages, especially his teacher, the Yondaime. "Our mission is to bring her back. Not kill her."

Tsunade stared in shock at the claws, wondering how the hell he could have had those things implanted in his arm.

"Hey, old hag," Naruto growled, glaring daggers at the Sannin as he retracted his claws. "If you insult any of the Hokages again, I'll rip you apart..."

Tsunade got over her shock of seeing those claws, and got up, smirking. "You've got guts, talking to me like that! Let's take this outside, brat!"

"Fine with me!"

Pretty soon, everyone were outside, Naruto and Tsunade standing in the middle of the street, staring each other down, while the others were on the sides, looking worriedly at Naruto. As strong as he was, he didn't have much of a chance to beat a Sannin.

"Hey, brat," Tsuande said suddenly. "Before we go ahead with this fight, there's something I'd like to know. Why do you get so excited when you heard the word Hokage?"

"Unlike you, I will take the title of Hokage, and surpass those before me," Naruto explained. "Because... being Hokage is my dream."

Tsunade's eyes widened, and she froze in shock. Naruto smirked. 'Chance!' he thought as he shot forward, taking advantage of her shock. He activated his eye behind his hitai-ate, forming three hand seals, making everyone, save for Shizune and Tsunade, go wide-eyed.

"Naruto!" Kakashi exclaimed. "What-" However, he got no further, as Tsunade snapped out of her shock and charged forward, finger-flicking Naruto on the forehead before he could activate his Ranran Dageki. However, her eyes widened when Naruto disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

'Kage Bunshin?!'

Another Naruto appeared above her, rapidly forming handseals. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Fire Element: Grand Fireball Technique)!" he exclaimed as he put his hand to his mouth, exhaling a huge fireball, one that easily thwarted Sasuke's in size. Tsunade, wide-eyed, dodged out of the way, only to have yet another Naruto appear below her, nailing her on the chin with a move he learned from Maito Gai. As Tsunade flew through the air, a fourth Naruto appeared behind her, smirking behind his mask.

"Underestimating an opponent, and fighting while drunk will land you in this position," he said as he wrapped his arms around her from behind, flipping so they were diving towards the ground and spinning. "This is it!" he exclaimed as he spun with Tsunade at a high rate of speed, driving her head-first into the ground. Naruto himself, however, jumped away at the last second.

The impact with the ground kicked up a huge cloud of dust. Naruto landed some distance away and smiled as he straightened up, turning to the dust cloud as it cleared, do show a log, which had been split down the middle.

Tsunade appeared behind him, aiming a round house kick to his head. He ducked, but the wind pressure from the kick knocked him off balance, making his eyes widen.

'What power!' he yelled in his mind, and suddenly copped a fist to the face, feeling more than a couple of teeth getting crushed, along with his jaw and nose as he was sent flying, straight into and through the wall of the bar, crashing through the booths and finally slamming into the opposite wall.

He slowly slid to the ground in a sitting position, panting heavily as blood dripped through his mask. However, when the dust cloud, which had resulted from Naruto crashing through the wall, cleared, he was surprised to see Tsunade freezing at the sight of his blood, making his eyes widen.

'What the hell?' he thought, blinking. 'Hemophobia?' He shook his head as he rose to his feet, pulling down his mask to spit out his crushed teeth, and to correct his busted jaw and nose, Megami getting to work on healing them and regrowing the teeth right away. "Well, this is interesting," Naruto said as he stepped out of the bar, wiping the blood away from his mouth. "Ero-sennin is a perverted cheapskate, Orochimaru has an obsession with little boys... and the great Medic-nin Tsunade has Hemophobia... Truly, the Sannin aren't what they used to be..."

"O-Oi, Naruto," Shikamaru said, staring at Naruto with wide eyes, along with Kiba. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Naruto said as he turned away, walking off. "I'm out, guys. I've got better things to do, like working on the Hiraishin."

This, coupled with the fact that there was no blood in sight at the moment, snapped Tsunade out of her shock, and she turned to Jiraiya with a raised eyebrow.

"Jiraiya! Are you the one who's teaching him Hiraishin?"

"Well, I'm sort of his master."

"The only one who could use that jutsu was the Yondaime," Tsunade said with a smirk, confident once more. "Teaching him something he cannot do, and calling yourself his master... No wonder he has those foolish dreams about 'becoming Hokage.'"

Naruto froze, and turned around, glaring at Tsunade with his good eye.

"Foolish?" he asked, chuckling. "You'll see, old hag. I'll have this jutsu mastered in three days."

Tsunade stared at Naruto for a while, and then chuckled. "Heh... Some words, brat... A man cannot go back on his word."

Naruto grinned. "I don't go back on my word. That's my nindo."

The two stared each other down for a minute, and then, Tsunade smirked. "Well then... I'll give you one week," she said, making Naruto blink. "If you can master that jutsu, I'll acknowledge that you could become Hokage and..." she trailed off, pointing at a blueish-green crystal hanging around her neck, "I'll give you this necklace."

"Tsunade-sama!" the black-haired woman, Shizune, exclaimed, going wide-eyed. "That's your precious-"

"Why the hell would Naruto want that kind of ugly necklace?" Kiba asked loudly, only to get a chuckle from Jiraiya.

"Don't say that, Kiba. That is a very unique and precious ore that belonged to the Shodai Hokage. If Naruto would sell it, he could buy three mountains."

Shikamaru, Kakashi, and Kiba's eyes were replaced by gold Koban pieces, their jaws dropping, while Naruto nodded.

"And if I lose?"

Tsunade held out her hand, to show that she was holding Naruto's wallet, smirking. "If you can't master it in a week, I'll take all your money."

"Deal," Naruto said with a nod and turned his back on Tsunade once again, walking off.

--The next day--

"I don't get it."

Kiba and Shikamaru were sitting with Naruto in their hotel room. Kakashi and Jiraiya were out doing whatever it was they did in their free time. Kiba was watching as Naruto and Shikamaru played a game of Shougi.

"What is it, Kiba?" Naruto asked, glancing at the dog boy, who was giving Akamaru a belly rub, while watching the game.

"I mean, you've mastered the Hiraishin already, haven't you?"

"Knowing the jutsu and mastering it are two completely different things, Keebs," Shikamaru said as he moved his Silver General, making Naruto twitch, having not anticipated that move. "Naruto can only flash to a single kunai, and that's only a second or two after the alert seal goes off. The Yondaime could freely plant those seals on anything, and flash to them at his leisure."

"Which is why I use my cannon for the jutsu," Naruto said as he stared at the board, unable to think of a move where Shikamaru wouldn't give him a figurative Shougi raping. "I have to learn how to flash to the seals on my own. I know how to plant them, but not flashing to them. Sighing to himself, he decided the best move he could do was to sacrifice his own Silver General, glaring heatedly at Shikamaru, and uttering the only thing he could manage. "You son of a bitch."

Shikamaru smirked, and instead of taking Naruto's Silver General, he moved his Knight. "And the victory is mine."

Naruto's eyes widened as he stared down at the board. "The hell?!"

"You were so busy looking for the ways I'd take your pieces, you didn't realize that the best move for you to make would leave your King open," Shikamaru explained, still smirking. "So, victory is mine."

"Let's just pray that I'll have better luck with the Hiraishin," Naruto muttered as he buried his face in his hand. "Alright, let's go eat."

An hour later, the three had eaten and were merry. Naruto had gone to the bathroom, and told the other two to go ahead. However, when Kiba and Shikamaru got outside, they jumped in shock when Naruto blurred into view in front of them, stumbling and tripping. He hit the ground with a yelp, and shot to his feet immediately, growling.

"Damn it!"

"What the hell, Naruto?!" Kiba yelled, still in shock, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart. Naruto ignored him and held out his hand.

"Give me your hand, Keebs." Kiba blinked, but did as he was told. Only now did he notice it. A set of seals was inscribed on his hand, making his eyes widen. However, before he could speak, Naruto had grabbed his hand, and ran his free hand over the seals. They vanished, as if they were never there. Naruto smiled. "I've been able to freely plant the seal. However, even though I can travel to them, I still can't do it at Kiroi Senkou speed. And it makes me lose balance, too..."

"Hey, you bastard! You can't just plant that thing on people however you wish! What if I'd been on the john?!" Kiba exclaimed, glaring at Naruto, while Shikamaru snickered.

"Don't worry, Kiba. I'm sure he only planted the seal just now during our meal, for this sole purpose."

Naruto nodded, but Kiba wasn't satisfied, crossing his arms. "At least let me know the next time. I nearly pissed myself when you appeared like that."

Suddenly, Naruto perked up, and he looked over his shoulder, narrowing his eye ever so slightly. "Shika, Keebs, go ahead to the hotel without me. I've got something to check out," he said as he patted Shikamaru on the shoulder. "I'll use that to get back."

Shikamaru looked like he was about to speak up, but a glance from Naruto told him that all would be explained later. Nodding, he lead Kiba away, while Naruto headed back into the dango shop, sitting down in a booth in the back.

After about five minutes, another man sat down in front of him, dressed in baggy robes, with his whole head wrapped in bandages, along with his hands. Naruto couldn't even see his eyes.

"I was expecting you to be here," Naruto said, smiling. "Your appearance may have changed, but your chakra can't fool my eye."

"That is what I was hoping for, Naruto-kun," the stranger said with a chuckle. His voice was distorted, showing Naruto that he didn't want anything of him to be recognized. "I am guessing you already know why I came?"

Naruto nodded. "After all, it's not just a coincidence that you'd appear in the same town as Orochimaru."

"It is a good thing you were not born an idiot, Naruto-kun," the stranger said with another chuckle as he reached into the sleeve of his sleeve and taking out a scroll, handing it over to Naruto, who nodded his thanks. "That contains information on who Orochimaru will bring here in six days, and why he has sought the services of Tsunade-sama."

"Thank you," Naruto said with a smile behind his mask. "It's appreciated."

"I am happy to help," the stranger said, nodding. "By the way, how far have you gotten with the Hiraishin?"

"I'm getting there," Naruto said as he put the scroll in his kunai pouch. "Well, I best be off. Later." With a wave, Naruto blurred away.

Back at their hotel room, Naruto blurred into view in front of Shikamaru, stumbling and tripping into his bed. As expected, the two jumped in surprise.

"Damn it!" Naruto exclaimed as he sat up in the bed. Sighing, he reached into his kunai pouch and took out the scroll. "Alright, one of my informants has given me information on what to expect when we meet Orochimaru." His teammates looked at him curiously as he opened the scroll. "With him will be Yakushi Kabuto, a Medic-nin near Kakashi-sensei's level of power. He utilizes chakra scalpels and Doton techniques. There will also be another person there," he said, making Kiba and Shikamaru's eyes widen. "Kaguya Kimimaro. He's a former citizen of Water Country. He's a bloodline ninja, who has the ability to manipulate the bones in his body. He specializes in using his bloodline to maximize his Taijutsu potential, and has a Curse Seal on his body. However, he also suffers from Tuberculosis, which is the reason why they've come asking for Tsunade's help..." he read, and then looked up at his teammates. "Well, shit..."

Shikamaru sighed. "Aw, man... Now I'm gonna have to think up even more plans..." he muttered, getting an incredulous look from Kiba.

"What, that's what you're bothered by?" he asked, staring at Shikamaru as if he wasn't sure if Shikamaru could be classified as sane. "So, you're not bothered by the fact that we're gonna fight a guy who can _manipulate his bones?_"

"Of course not," Shikamaru said with a smirk. "I'm not the one who'll be up close and fighting him."

Kiba and Naruto twitched.

--Three days later--

Naruto was sitting in a lotus position in an open field some distance away from Tanzaku. Stabbed into the ground all around him were several three-pronged kunai. His eyes were closed and his brow furrowed in concentration as he focused.

'I can feel them...' he thought, feeling something like a beacon from each of the kunai, calling for him. 'I can go to them, but not at Tou-san's speed... I-'

"Naruto-kun," came Megami's voice in his head. "Get in here."

'What is it, Megami?'

"I have something I'd like to check."

Naruto nodded as he slowly drifted off, materializing in front of Megami's cage, where he saw something he wasn't expecting. Instead of looking up at a giant fox, he found himself staring at a beautiful, redheaded woman, with long hair, wearing a black kimono. She had the same whisker-like marks on her cheeks as Naruto, a pair of slitted, blood-red eyes, and nine flowing fox-tails swirling behind her.

Naruto, however, didn't show his surprise, and instead just blinked. "Well, that explains your change in voice."

Megami smiled as she walked up to the bars. "Indeed. Now, Naruto-kun, I'd like you to do something for me."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? What?"

"I want you to remove the seal," Megami said, making Naruto's eyes widen. She saw that he was about to speak up, and beat him to it. "I promise that nothing will happen. Fox's honor."

Naruto knew Megami well enough to know that she, like him, never broke her promises. Therefore, he walked up to the seal and reached for it, only to go wide-eyed when a hand appeared out of nowhere, and stopped him. Megami smirked.

"I knew I recognized the chakra in here," she said as she stared at the person who'd stopped Naruto. "It's been a long time... Yondaime..."

The Yondaime, Namikaze Minato, was staring at his own hand, which was holding Naruto's arm. Then, he looked to the Kyuubi, and finally, he turned to Naruto. A grin slowly formed on his face as he turned to Megami again.

"I see... You figured out the safeguard, Kyuubi? Or should I call you Megami?"

"Megami is fine, Yondaime."

"Then please, call me Minato," Minato said with a smile and looked at Naruto. "It's nice to finally meet you face to face, Naruto. You've grown into a fine man."

Naruto was staring in shock at Minato. "T-Tou-san..." At Minato's nod, he charged forward, and wrapped his arms around his father for the first time in his life. Minato smiled as he returned the hug.

"I've caused you a lot of trouble, haven't I, Naruto?" he asked as he felt Naruto shaking. "I'm truly sorry about that. I never expected Kushina to follow the villagers' example..."

Naruto sniffed as he broke the hug, wiping his eye with a small smile on his face, though it wasn't seen, due to the mask. "It's alright. I'm the son of the Yondaime, so I'll deal."

Minato grinned at that as two chairs suddenly appeared in the sewer that was Naruto's mind, the water fading away, making Naruto and Megami's eyes widen. They looked at him for an explanation, and he just shrugged.

"I managed to alter the seal slightly, just before I sealed Megami in you," he explained as he sat down. "Part of my soul, along with my whole consciousness, was attached to the seal, making me something of a warden." Naruto sat down as Minato conjured a chair for Megami as well. She gratefully sat down. "I have full control in here. Now, Naruto, I have some things to talk to you about. First of all, I want to explain to you the reason why I sealed Megami in you, and didn't take her into the Shinigami's stomach with me."

"I've always wondered about that," Megami said as she leaned forward expectantly. "Kami knows the Shinigami is strong enough to devour even me."

"I've been wondering that, too," Naruto said with a nod.

"I realized long before the sealing that Megami was being controlled," Minato explained, making their eyes widen. "That Uchiha Madara... I realized that, without some sort of special power, there would be no way to fight him. I believe he'll attack the village again. He's a rather tall ninja, and he wears an orange mask with a swirl on it, and only one eye. Back then... he saw through everything I did. He's no ordinary ninja..."

"Don't worry, Tou-san," Naruto said with a grin. "I won't let him destroy Konoha. Even if it costs me my life, I'll protect Konoha, and everyone in it!"

Minato froze, staring at Naruto with wide eyes for a few seconds, before smiling. "Naruto... I can't put into words just how proud I am of you. You've faced the hatred of the village. You've even been crippled, but even that, you could forgive, and still you love the village. The Will of Fire burns strongly in you, and I'm proud to call you my son." By now, tears were flowing down Naruto's cheek again. "Even Kushina and Taki-chan. You don't like them. Maybe we could even go as far as to say that you hate them. But even them, you would protect with your life. You'll be the Rokudaime Hokage. I know it."

"Thanks, Tou-san," Naruto said with a smile. Then, however, it vanished, and Minato suddenly copped a sandal to the face, knocking him off the chair. He immediately shot to his feet, holding his nose with a furious look on his face.

"What the hell was that for?!"

"Why the hell didn't you leave any instructions for the Hiraishin for, you bastard?!" Naruto yelled, freezing Minato, who blinked. Of all the things he figured Naruto would kick him for, this was not it. Then, he realized that it was true. He hadn't had the time to write it down. In all honesty, he'd been planning on teaching it to his children in person. So, he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Oh, sorry about that. I didn't really have time to write it down in a scroll, what with Megami's unexpected visit and all."

Megami scoffed at that and crossed her arms. "Oh, sure, blame the Kyuubi..."

Minato grinned and clapped his hands together, completely ignoring Megami. "Yosh! Time for some Hiraishin 101!"

"Alright!"

"Now, Naruto," Minato said, going into lecture mode, "the call of the flying kunai is something you must learn to control at will. Believe me, getting drawn to more than one flying kunai at once is a pain. This can be done by cutting off your chakra connection with that kunai."

"Chakra connection?" Naruto asked, blinking, getting a smirk from Minato.

"It's only natural that you haven't discovered it yet, since you only have a second or two before you're automatically drawn to the kunai. You have to understand, the alert seal on the kunai becomes a beacon that connects with your chakra, like a chain. This is what draws you to it. That's what you need in order to go to the seals at will." Naruto blinked, and Minato continued. "You can feel the seals, right?"

"Yeah?"

"What you have to do is extend your chakra to the seals, and create that chain. If you do, you won't just do one of those high-speed movements you're doing now, where you run to the kunai at near light-speed. The chakra chain that pulls you will do so at light-speed. It'll happen so fast, you won't even have time to move. Therefore, it looks like a teleport."

"So that's what I'm doing wrong..." Naruto muttered, getting a grin from Minato.

"It's understandable that you haven't figured it out. After all, as the saying goes, 'If it's not broke, don't fix it.' You could already feel the seals, and go to them, so you just tried to work on the speed."

"So that's it?" Naruto asked, getting a nod from Minato. "What'll happen to you now?"

"My chakra is fading," Minato said, smiling. "I will soon disappear."

"Not necessarily," Megami said with a smirk, getting questioning looks from both Minato and Naruto, making her groan. "You both look so much alike right now, it's not even funny... Anyway, what if I gave you chakra? That should keep you alive, right?"

Minato looked contemplative. "It could work. And the amount of chakra I need to stay alive isn't more than anything you'll recover in a second."

"Then, how about I supply you with chakra, so you can watch Naruto-kun grow up?"

Minato stared at Megami for a few seconds, before narrowing his eyes. "What's in it for you?"

"You're the warden of this place, right? You have full control?" At Minato's nod, Megami continued. "All I want is some interior decorating. A bed, maybe a pool, and something like that."

"Deal," Minato said with a nod as he walked up to the bars, shaking Megami's hand.

"Well, I'm off," Naruto said with a smile as he started fading away. "But I'll be back."

"Good luck!" Minato said with a wave and a grin. "I'll be watching!"

With a wave, Naruto disappeared. Megami sighed.

"It's a shame I'm stuck in here... He grew into such a handsome boy."

Minato twitched and glared at her. "Don't go there..."

A sly grin appeared on Megami's face. "I've seen him naked, too, you know. If I wasn't stuck in here, I'd-"

Minato put his hands over his ears and closed his eyes. "Lalalalala - I'm not listening - lalalalala!"

Megami grinned widely. Time to pay Minato back for 13 years of imprisonment in a dark sewer. "You know," she said loudly. "He's probably bigger than you!"

"SHUT UP!! I DON'T WANNA HEAR THIS ABOUT MY OWN SON!!"

Megami snickered.

In the real world, Naruto snapped his eyes open, and got to work, trying to create the chakra link between him and the kunai around him.

--Three days later--

Naruto woke up on the final day, to find Shikamaru and Kiba already awake, getting ready.

"Today is the day, right?" Kiba asked as Naruto got out of bed, heading for the shower.

"Yeah, today's the day," Naruto responded from inside the bathroom. "Let's kick some ass, yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Only you two could get excited before a fight with enemies like that..." Shikamaru muttered as he scratched the back of his head. "Hey, Naruto! How are you coming along with the Hiraishin?"

Naruto was quiet for a couple of minutes. "It's, uh, it's coming along nicely."

Shikamaru and Kiba shared a look, but stayed quiet and let Naruto shower in peace. Then, however, when they heard him turn off the water, Shikamaru spoke up again.

"Not going as well as you'd want, huh?"

Suddenly, the bathroom door was kicked down, and Naruto, standing there with nothing but a towel around his waist, stood there, glaring angrily at everything, a pretty intimidating sight, considering that his entire body was covered in scars, and he had a feral look in his eye.

"How hard can it be to create a chakra link?! It's pissing me off!" he yelled in frustration, while Kiba and Shikamaru snickered. Suddenly, however, Naruto perked up, and he activated his eye, looking to the north. "Shit! It's started!" he exclaimed, making his teammates go wide-eyed.

"Oh, shit! And we're not even there yet!" Kiba exclaimed as they hurriedly got dressed. "I guess our plans for an ambush went down the drain!"

"We're going for Plan B," Shikamaru said as they jumped out the window, rushing off. All three of them had added armor to their attire. Naruto now wore a long-sleeved mesh shirt under his shinobi shirt, and wore a body armor under his chunnin vest. Kiba and Shikamaru wore the same, only Kiba didn't have a chunnin vest.

Later, outside Tanzaku, Orochimaru had engaged Jiraiya and Kakashi in battle, while Kabuto and the albino, Kimimaro, were staring down Tsunade and Shizune. Kabuto was bleeding from the wrist, which had frozen Tsunade in place.

"Kimimaro-kun," Kabuto said, smiling evilly at Tsunade. "Tsunade-sama is the only one we need alive. Kill the attendant."

"Understood," Kimimaro said with a nod as a blade made of bone slipped out of his sleeve. He turned to Shizune, who tensed as he took a step forward. Then, however, he froze. "What the...?"

Kabuto tried to turn, but found that he was frozen as well. "Kage Mane no Jutsu, huh?" he asked with a smirk, and went wide eyed when two cyclones came flying at them from behind Tsunade, one heading for Kabuto, the other for Kimimaro.

"GATSUUGA!"

Just before they hit the two, Shikamaru released the Kage Mane no Jutsu and jumped away from his position behind the two. Kiba and Akamaru crashed into the two, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Kiba came flying out of the dust, landing in front of Tsunade. Within seconds, Naruto and Shikamaru landed next to him, staring at the dust cloud as it started clearing.

"Did we get them?" Naruto asked, and Kiba shrugged.

The dust cleared, to show Kimimaro and Kabuto still standing there. Kabuto wasn't harmed, but Kimimaro's chest was shredded. However, he seemed to have some kind of armor made out of bones under his skin.

"As expected of Hatake Kakashi's genius Team 7," Kabuto spoke as he pushed his glasses higher up on his nose. "It would have worked on anyone of chunnin rank or below, no doubt. Very impressive, Naruto-kun, Shikamaru-kun, Kiba-kun."

Suddenly, his eyes widened when Kiba poofed into smoke, revealing Akamaru. He looked down at a noise, in time to see two hands come out of the ground, grabbing a hold of his ankles.

"Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu!" came Kiba's voice from below as Kabuto was pulled underground, until only his head showed. From below him, Kiba exploded out of the ground, and ran straight for Kimimaro. "One down! Let's go, Naruto!"

"Yeah!" Naruto yelled as he rushed forward. Kimimaro didn't even look intimidated when the two charged at him. He effortlessly blocked Kiba's haymaker, countering with a palm thrust to his jaw, knocking him into the air, then spinning around, and blocking a kunai swipe from Naruto with his bone sword.

Naruto glanced to the side. "Alright, let's do it!" he exclaimed, as four Naruto clones appeared around Tsunade and Shizune, forming hand seals.

"Shishi Enjin!" Kabuto and Kimimaro went wide-eyed at that, along with Orochimaru, Jiraiya and Kakashi, who stopped their fighting to stare in shock as a purple barrier rose around Tsunade, Shizune, Akamaru and Shikamaru.

"Naruto-kun," Kabuto said as he seemingly effortlessly pulled himself out of the ground. "That's a jutsu known only to Otogakure's Sound Four... How do you know it?"

"Back during the chunnin exam, I couldn't help but see them use it. I also couldn't help but copy it and try it for myself," Naruto said as he tried to overpower Kimimaro, who held fast. Kabuto was about to rush to help Kimimaro, but Kiba suddenly appeared behind him, holding a kunai at his throat. He suddenly found that he couldn't move, and looked down to see Shikamaru using his Kage Mane no Jutsu from inside the purple barrier.

"Don't move," Kiba said, deadly serious.

"You know, it's funny," Naruto told Kimimaro with a grin. "All this time, you've been fighting a mere Kage Bunshin..."

Kabuto's eyes widened. "Kimimaro, behind you!"

The Naruto in front of Kimimaro disappeared in a cloud of smoke, as the bone user turned around, seeing Naruto standing some distance away, charging up a Ranran Dageki.

"Such a low-level jutsu..." Kimimaro said calmly a bones sprouted from his chest, forming a thick body armor over his chest, "won't work on me... My bones are stronger than Sabaku no Gaara's Ultimate defense. Try it, if you wish."

Naruto focused as the fire in his hand turned blue, then white, getting hot enough to scorch the earth, even if his hand was three feet above it. However, Naruto wasn't done there. He closed his eyes.

'Step 1: Rotation...' he thought as the arrowhead on his hand started rotating, looking more like a drill than an arrowhead. 'Step 2: Power!' The chakra that Naruto was channeling into the jutsu was enough to crack the earth underneath him as the fire started getting volatile, lashing out as burning Naruto's arm, making him grunt.

'That looks dangerous,' Kimimaro said as he tensed up. 'Better not take any chances...' He was about to charge at Naruto, when he suddenly felt that he couldn't move.

"Think again!" Shikamaru exclaimed with a triumphant grin.

'Retain it!' Naruto roared in his mind as he reeled in the volatile fire, finally forming a massive drill made of fire. "Powerful armor, eh?" he asked out loud with a grin as he charged forward. "We'll just see about that!"

Kimimaro's eyes widened as Naruto came at him at an impressive speed. Within seconds, he'd closed the distance between them, and thrust his hand forward. 'Da-'

"Katon: Giga Doriru Bureka (Fire Element: Giga Drill Breaker)!" Naruto called out as he slammed his hand into Kimimaro's armored chest. Kimimaro let out a loud cry of pain as the jutsu burned and drilled its way through his armor with no trouble, piercing straight through him in a matter of seconds.

Naruto plowed right through the bone user, and stopped his charge a few feet behind him, letting his jutsu die down. "Your armor wasn't very sturdy," he said as he glanced behind him, where Kimimaro was missing pretty much his whole upper body, along with his right arm. He fell to the ground, dead, as Naruto sighed, turning to Kabuto, who whistled.

"Very impressive, Naruto-kun. As expected of you. Even Kimimaro, who was said to have been the ultimate shinobi, according to Orochimaru-sama, was no match for the assassination jutsu of the Namikaze prodigy."

"Flattery won't work," Naruto said as he charged up a normal Ranran Dageki.

Kabuto chuckled. "Heh, I suppose..."

Meanwhile, Orochimaru, who didn't even look winded, was staring down Kakashi and Jiraiya, both of whom looked tired. Well, Jiraiya looked a little tired, while Kakashi was panting heavily, the strain from using his Sharingan too much getting to him.

"Naruto-kun is a very impressive boy," Orochimaru said, staring down at the lifeless body, or what was left of it, of Kimimaro. "I never would have expected him to beat Kimimaro-kun so easily... Jiraiya, Kakashi-kun... You have chosen a splendid apprentice. I must applaud you for that. It's a shame that Kabuto will kill him."

"Don't bet on it!" Jiraiya said as he charged at Orochimaru, going through handseals. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

Suddenly, with the others, Kabuto poofed into smoke, making Kiba's eyes widen as he felt someone grab his collar, and throw him at the barrier formed around Tsunade, Shizune, Akamaru and Shikamaru.

Naruto's eyes widened, and he quickly dispelled his clones, causing the barrier to drop, which let Kiba crash into Shikamaru. Kabuto smirked as he charged at the group, activating a chakra scalpel on each hand. Kiba and Shikamaru disentangled themselves, but they didn't manage to dodge in time. Kiba cried out when Kabuto struck him below the hip, before hitting Shikamaru in the shoulder. Without stopping, he headed right for Shizune, but wasn't expecting Naruto to intercept him, striking him in the chest with a palm thrust, sending him flying back.

Kabuto, however, simply rolled with it, rolling to his feet. "Impressive speed, Naruto-kun. However, how will you fair against me alone? I severed the muscles in Kiba-kun's thigh, and in Shikamaru-kun's shoulder. Those two are useless in a fight right now."

"I have no doubts that I can rip you a new one," Naruto said calmly as he glanced at Tsunade. "Tsunade! I'll need you to heal Shikamaru and Kiba while I keep Kabuto busy." Tsunade didn't respond. Instead, she was just staring straight ahead, shaking, making Naruto growl. "Tsunade!" he yelled loudly, glaring at her, finally getting her attention. "Are you a Medic-nin or not?! What kind of washed up old hag are you, to be afraid of blood?!"

"She's not the one you should focus on!" Kabuto yelled as he charged forward. Naruto saw him activate a chakra scalpel, and raised his left arm to block a chop to the neck. Kabuto smirked as he grabbed Naruto's forearm, ready to sever some muscles, but was surprised when nothing happened. Naruto smirked right back.

"You should've done some more research on me!" he exclaimed as he extended the three blades on his forearm, the middle one piercing through Kabuto's hand, making his eyes widen.

'This is it!' Naruto yelled in his mind as he smashed Kabuto under the chin with with an uppercut. Then, he crouched low, and hit him under the chin again with a rising kick, sending Kabuto flying into the air. As Kabuto was flying, Naruto reached into his kunai pouch and took out two rolls of bandages, before blurring away, appearing behind Kabuto in the air.

Kabuto went wide-eyed. 'K-Kage Buyo (Leaf Shadow Dance)?!' he thought as the bandages in Naruto's hands wrapped themselves around Kabuto's body. 'Shit!'

"This is it!" Naruto exclaimed as the pair began their fall back to earth. Naruto started spinning, even faster than he did with Tsunade, driving Kabuto head first into the ground. "Omote Renge (Front Lotus)!"

The collision with the ground kicked up a cloud of dust, and Naruto landed some distance away from Kabuto on his feet, smirking as the dust cloud started to clear. He turned around, and went wide-eyed.

The Kabuto who was sticking out of the ground disappeared with a poof of smoke.

"Shit!" Naruto exclaimed and was about to run over to Tsunade again, when he felt a sharp pain in his chest, causing him to fall to his knees in pain. 'W-What's this...? I can... hardly breathe...'

"Impressive, isn't it?" came Kabuto's voice from in front of him as the Oto spy rose from the ground, a smirk on his face. "What a man can do with a chakra scalpel?"

"Naruto!" Kiba exclaimed from his spot next to Tsunade, staring with wide eyes.

"You..." Naruto hissed, gasping at his chest. "W-What did you... do to me...?"

Kabuto chuckled. "My Kage Bunshin severed the muscles around your respiratory area," he said as he turned to Tsunade, Naruto falling to the ground, coughing. "Now, time to take care of Tsunade-sama. Now that Kimimaro is dead, there's no need to keep her around anymore."

Naruto, however, grabbed Kabuto's ankle, coughing. "I... I'm not dead yet!"

Kabuto smirked. "Don't worry, Naruto-kun. I'll deal with you later," he said as he ripped his foot out of Naruto's grip. "For now, I'll let you watch as I kill your comrades."

Naruto growled as Kabuto slowly walked away. 'Like hell I'm gonna let you do that...' he thought as he struggled to get up, getting on his knees and panting, the pain in his chest intensifying. 'Marked...' he thought as he closed his eyes. 'Focus...'

Meanwhile, Kabuto walked up to Tsunade, looking down at her quivering form. "To think that I once respected you, Tsunade-sama... Oh well," he said as he took out a kunai and raised it. "You can work on your fears in the next world!" he yelled as he stabbed downwards, just as Naruto snapped open his eyes.

'Got it!'

Everyone watching went wide-eyed when, with a flash of yellow, Naruto appeared in front Kabuto, letting the kunai pierce through his right hand. Then, without stopping, he extended his claws with a _snikt_, and stabbed them into Kabuto's gut, making the mans eyes widen.

"Like I'll go down that easily!" he said as his cannon popped out of his arm. He filled it with Wind chakra, his claws still inside Kabuto, and fired, blasting a huge hole in Kabuto's gut, sending him flying a good 80 feet.

"N-Naruto..." Tsunade whispered as Naruto, panting, ripped the kunai out of his hand and retracted his claws and cannon. "Y-You..."

"I win..." Naruto mumbled, falling to his knees, "the bet..." With that, he fell to the ground, passing out.

--End--

**Oooooh, do you love it?! I sure as hell love it! And if you love it, make sure to leave a review, and tell me that you love it. If you do, I love you, too. So we'll have a big old love fest tonight! Yay for love fests! We can play 'Who's in my mouth?' in the dark!**

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	7. Chapter 7

--Mindscape--

"Really..."

"And people called me a reckless fighter when I was a chunnin..."

Naruto was laying on a grassy field with Megami and Minato. Granted, there was a cage around Megami, but she enjoyed the sunshine nonetheless.

"You let that boy sever your respiratory muscles," Megami muttered, sitting up and looking down at Naruto. "Do you have any idea how close we came to dying?"

"I have a pretty good idea of that, yeah," Naruto said with a nod. "This was, what, my third real shinobi battle? I think I did pretty good."

"I have to agree," Minato said as he stared up at the sky. "I mean, he won, right? He could've done so without sustaining so many injuries, but at least he won, and didn't die. Stop talking about how he could've died..."

"Let's learn from the past, not dwell on it," Naruto said, waving Megami off, making her bristle as she grabbed the bars of the cage, glaring heatedly at the two blonds.

"Easy for you to say!" she roared, flaring her killer intent. Of course, this would have been impressive, had the two not experienced it over and over during the last three days. "You guys are not the ones who has to work on healing this damn injury-prone body! Do you have any idea how much I have to concentrate in order to heal these injuries?! I'm doing it for you, you know!"

Naruto sat up and stared at her with a raised eyebrow. "You realize that you're not fooling me, right?" he asked, a smirk appearing on his face. "You heal my body just as much for yourself as you do it for me. If there was no risk of you dying as well, you'd let me stay injured, if only to teach me a lesson." Megami huffed and crossed her arms, but didn't respond. Naruto's smirk widened. "Am I right?"

"Careful, son," Minato said as he slung an arm around Naruto's shoulders, leaning in to whisper in his ear. "Remember, Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Especially if said woman has the power to destroy mountains without even trying."

Naruto chuckled as he stood up. "Yeah, yeah. Well, I need to get some rest. Considering that we're still here, the battle went well. So, I'm gonna go. I'll talk to you guys later."

"Later," Minato said with a wave as Naruto vanished from the mindscape. "He'll go far, won't he?"

"I have no doubts about that," Megami said with a smile as she stared at the spot where Naruto had been. She sighed. "If only I wasn't stuck in here, I would-"

"Not this again!"

Megami grinned.

--Two days later--

"Eh..." Naruto was sitting in a bar with his team, Jiraiya, Tsunade and Shizune, staring at the busty blond sitting across from him. "Godaime... Hokage..."

Tsunade smiled, nodding. Naruto crossed his arms, sighing.

"So, starting today, you're gonna become the Godaime Hokage, eh?"

Jiraiya glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. "You don't seem pleased, Naruto."

"Well, no offense to you, Baa-chan," Naruto said and looked at Jiraiya, "but compared to the Sandaime and the Yondaime, she's not exactly a good candidate for Hokage, is she? She's rough, selfish, loose with money, and easily pissed off. A Hokage is supposed to be able to stay calm in any situation regardless what's going on, and I'm just not sure she can do it."

Tsunade twitched and shot forward, grabbing Naruto's collar. "Let's take this outside, brat!"

"I rest my case," Naruto said with a smirk, making her twitch again.

"Same as last time..." Shikamaru mumbled as everyone got up and headed outside.

"I've got 100 ryou on Tsunade-sama," Kiba said, smirking. "Any takers?"

There was none.

Naruto and Tsunade stared each other down, Naruto smirking. "You're lucky I'm still recovering, Baa-chan," Naruto said, clenching his left fist. "My movements aren't what they should be, and using the Hiraishin is out of the question. I guess, like this, you'll be a good warm-up."

Tsunade twitched. "Underestimating me, brat?" she asked as she held up her hand, extending a finger. "All I need against you is just one finger."

Naruto grinned and charged forward at an impressive speed, making Tsunade's eyes widen. Naruto got ready to punch her, but suddenly went wide-eyed when his right leg froze. 'Oh, shit!'

Before he could recover, Tsunade had knocked off his hitai-ate with her finger, and came at him as if she was about to finger flick his forehead. Naruto closed his eyes, awaiting the hit, but was surprised when it didn't come. Instead, he felt something soft pressed against his forehead, and opened his eyes, to see her kissing him on the forehead, making him blush slightly.

As she pulled back, Tsunade smiled at him, taking off her necklace and tying it around Naruto's neck. "Become a good man."

Naruto blinked, but then grinned, holding out his hand and catching his hitai-ate, just as it came falling from out of the sky. "Got it," he said as he put on the hitai-ate.

Then, he realized something, and turned to Kakashi. "Oh, Kakashi-sensei! This is pretty unusual, isn't it?"

Kakashi blinked. "What are you talking about, Naruto?"

"I mean, we've been through a tough battle, and you're not bedridden."

Shikamaru and Kiba went wide-eyed in realization, and looked at their sensei. "Hey, you're right," Kiba said, scratching his head. "That's pretty unusual."

Kakashi's shoulders slumped. "Is that what you guys think of me? Right now, I'm... truly... shocked!"

"You seem to have taken one hell of a beating as well, Naruto-kun," came a voice from an alley by the bar. They all turned to see a robed figure, his whole body wrapped in bandages. "Your movements are sluggish."

"You took me for one hell of a rodeo," Naruto said, smiling. "It's only natural that I'm like this."

"Naruto," Kakashi said. "Do you know him?"

"Yeah," Naruto said, nodding, as the stranger removed his bandages, and took a pair of glasses out of his robes. "He's my spy with Orochimaru, Yakushi Kabuto."

Everyone went wide-eyed when they heard that, and saw the stranger, who was quite clearly Kabuto.

"I apologize for manhandling you all so roughly," Kabuto said, smiling. "But I had to keep up appearances around Orochimaru. Naruto knew that, which was why he didn't hold back during the fight, and decided to put me on a diet."

Naruto stared at Kabuto, sweatdropping. "That's a strange thing to call a hole in your gut."

"What the hell is this?" Jiraiya demanded.

"Kabuto here is the unofficial spy in Otogakure no Sato," Naruto explained. "If he's not written down in any of the books, there's no way he's going to get found out."

"Seems you have taken some of my lessons to heart after all," Jiraiya said, suddenly smiling. "I would never hand thought that he might've been a spy."

"As pleasant as this is, I don't have much time," Kabuto said as he put on the bandages on his face again. He reached into his robe and took out a scroll, throwing it to Naruto, who caught it. "Naruto-kun, this is all I've managed to gather on Orochimaru's immortality jutsu. The time draws nearer."

With that said, Kabuto vanished.

"What did he mean by that?" Shikamaru asked as Naruto read through the scroll.

"Apparently, Orochimaru switches bodies. Meaning, he transfers his soul to another body in order to live longer. However, he can only do this once every three years. The time for switching bodies must be drawing nearer," Naruto explained as he read through the scroll. "According to this, the only ones he can take over are..." His eyes widened. "The only ones are those with a Cursed Seal..."

"Sasuke," Shikamaru said, getting a nod from Naruto.

"We should hurry back to the village as quickly as possible," Jiraiya said, and Kakashi nodded, along with Tsunade. "We never know when Orochimaru will make his move."

--Five days later--

"Man, there's nothing better than some male bonding after battling one of the Sannin," Kiba mumbled as he, Naruto and Shikamaru were in the hot springs of Konoha, just relaxing. Naruto looked at Kiba strangely.

"When did you battle a Sannin?" he asked, scratching his head. "As far as I remember, we fought Kabuto, not Orochimaru."

"It's the same thing," Kiba said with a shrug, getting a yip of agreement from Akamaru, who was laying on his head.

"As much as I hate to admit it, it's not," Naruto said, sighing. "Had we fought Orochimaru, instead of Kimimaro and Kabuto, we would've gotten slaughtered... We need to step up our training. We have to improve our Naru-Kiba-Shika teamwork."

"But not now," Kiba said as he grinned, leaning back and closing his eyes. "Right now, we relax."

"Yeah."

The three just sat there in silence for a few minutes, before hearing voices.

"Hey, Asuma-sensei, why are we here?" It was Akimichi Chouji, who was being lead into he hot springs, along with Shino, by Asuma, who chuckled as they got in.

"It's called male bonding, Chouji. Don't try to understand it. It's something that just happens."

"Listen to him, Chouji," Shikamaru said suddenly, making his presence known. "Naruto, Kiba and I come here all the time, and somehow, we understand each other better."

"Male bonding is something that happens on a subconscious level," Shino said in his usual monotone. No one could really see him through the steam, as it was very thick, and he was sitting at the other end of the hot spring. "It's impossible to understand it."

"Just like women," Naruto said, getting a snicker from Kiba.

"Oh, Naruto, I heard you guys brought back Tsunade-sama."

"Yeah," Naruto said, grinning. "We kicked some ass, too. Orochimaru's cronies were nothing against us."

"If Orochimaru wants to kill us, he'll have to do it himself," Kiba said confidently, getting nods from his teammates.

"That's good. You guys are growing."

"I'm the son of the Yondaime," Naruto said, shrugging. "I have to grow strong, or I'll be the disappointment of the Yondaime." Naruto saw that some were about to argue, and held up his hand. "I know that's probably not true, but thinking like that keeps me motivated. I wanna make my dad proud of me."

Asuma smiled and patted Naruto on the shoulder. "I'm pretty sure he is."

'I know he is,' Naruto thought with a smile, but then realized something. "Ah! The two feet rule!"

Asuma looked down, and noticed this, quickly scooting away from Naruto. "S-Sorry."

"Two feet rule?" Shino asked curiously.

"Listen well, Shino," Kiba said, holding up to fingers. "The two feet rule is a must in a all nude setting. Any male is not allowed to be within two feet of another male. That's the border between male bonding and gay."

"A rule set forth by Jiraiya-sama," Asuma said as everyone, save for Shino, put their hand on their heart.

"Amen," they spoke in unison.

True male bonding.

Suddenly, Asuma perked up, and a smirk slowly appeared on his face. "Of course, there was another reason why we came to the hot springs today," he said as voices were heard... female voices. Naruto, Shikamaru and Kiba grinned.

"Mixed bath day," they whispered together as they all quieted down. Of course, it didn't do much, since they could hardly see through the steam. Kiba, however, noticed that Naruto had activated his eye.

'Lucky bastard...'

However, Naruto was not a lucky bastard, and he quickly turned off his eye, cringing.

"Who's coming?" Asuma whispered, and Naruto shuddered.

"Anko-san, Kurenai, Hinata... and my kaa-san and imouto..." Naruto muttered, shuddering again.

An excited squeal was heard. "Nyaa~! There's nothing like a good soak in the hot springs on a day like this!" came Anko's voice through the steam. "Especially when you have dango and sake as well."

"Sake this early, Anko-sensei?" came Taki's voice, making Naruto raise an eyebrow. "Is that good?"

"It's not problem!" Anko said as the men heard people sit down in the hot springs. "We have something to celebrate, after all! We have a Godaime Hokage!"

"Kushina," came Kurenai's voice as well. "I heard Naruto's team brought her back."

"Yeah..."

Naruto didn't have to see her to know that his mother was depressed.

"That Naruto brat," Anko said, scoffing. "I hear he's getting pretty strong."

Naruto let out a triumphant laugh, making the women jump in surprise. "First, I get a kiss from Tsunade, granted, it was on the forehead, and then I become the hot springs gossip! I must be getting pretty popular."

"Kurenai-sensei," Kiba said, his tone indicating that he was grinning. "Aren't you a ninja? Shouldn't you first check to see if anyone is in here before you start talking about someone behind their back."

"T-There are men here!" Taki exclaimed in shock.

"No shit," Shikamaru muttered. "It's mixed bathing day today. Didn't you read the sign?"

"Sign?" Kurenai asked, followed by silence. Then came Anko's nervous laughter.

"I wasn't supposed to take that down?" she asked in a mischievous tone of voice.

"A-Anko-sensei!" Taki yelled, while Chouji looked at Asuma.

"Asuma-sensei, are women always this noisy in the hot springs?"

"Who knows, Chouji?" Asuma said with a shrug. "Women are hard to understand."

"Female bonding, perhaps?" Shino asked quietly.

Naruto suddenly stiffened, and he slowly turned to glare at Kiba. "Oi, Kiba... Two... feet... rule..."

Kiba looked at him in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"That's not your hand on my thigh?"

"No..."

Naruto reached under the water and nodded. "Right... That's a foot..."

"Oh!" Anko said in a fake surprised voice. "Sorry, sorry. I slipped."

"Naruto..."

Naruto looked in the direction where his mother's voice had come through the mist. "Kushina-san, keep in mind that we are both currently naked. Are you sure you want to have a conversation here?"

"Why not?" Kiba asked, never one to be embarrassed in any situation. "In here, all your secrets are exposed, in manner of speaking."

"Very well," Naruto said, leaning back as he gazed into the steam. "What do you want?"

"I want to apologize," Kushina said, only to be met by silence as Kiba and Naruto stared at each other, bursting into laughter a few seconds later. Hell, even Shikamaru snickered at that.

Once he calmed down enough, Naruto wiped the tears of mirth out of his eyes. "Thought of a good apology, did you? Cause 'Sorry' ain't gonna cut it, I'm afraid. It won't make up for abandoning me, leaving me at the mercy of the villagers."

"Hey!" Anko growled. "You're being a dick!"

"I think I have the right to be," Naruto said calmly, while Asuma scooted away from Naruto, opting to not take any sides. "Kiba, can I borrow your claws for a moment?"

"What for?"

"I want to show her just what gives me the right to be a dick, and I don't have a kunai nearby, do you?"

At this point, you could cut the tension with a knife, and the steam cleared enough so you could actually see the other side of the hot springs. Naruto was looking straight into Kushina's eyes.

"He's here, you know," Naruto said, getting confused looks from everyone. "Tou-san, I mean. During the sealing, he placed his consciousness and a piece of his soul in the seal itself. He's seen everything that's happened in my life through my eyes. Did you know that?"

At this point, Kurenai, Kushina and Taki looked like someone had stabbed them with a kunai, while everyone else just looked like someone had just slugged them in the face. Naruto turned to Kiba, hearing Megami's voice in his head.

"Never mind, Kiba, I don't need the claws," he said as he grabbed his left arm, just as the skin by his shoulder tore, and he easily ripped the skin on his arm off, getting a shriek of fright from Taki and Hinata when they saw his bionic limb, while Kurenai looked horrified. "This is what gives me the right to be a dick."

Kiba didn't really care about the talk they were having. Instead, he was just staring at the arm. "Hey, Naruto... There's not blood..."

"Nah, I decided that, even though it looks more life-like, having blood where it's not needed is a pain."

"Nii-chan," Taki whispered, getting a look from Naruto. It wasn't quite a glare, but it was enough to make her cringe.

"I'd prefer it if you didn't call me that. You two may be family, but in blood only."

"Naruto-"

"I'm out," Naruto said as he stood up suddenly, Kushina, Taki and Kurenai blushing. Hinata was so red, she looked about ready to pass out. Anko, however, had a perverted grin and blush on her face. "Kiba, Shika, training tomorrow at six, yeah?"

"Roger," Kiba said, nodding, while Shikamaru just sighed, which Naruto took as a yes.

Once Naruto had gotten his clothes back on and left the hot springs, he used a quick Shunshin no Jutsu to get to the top of the Hokage Monument, sitting down on the Sandaime's head.

"You don't think you went a little too far, Naruto?" came Minato's voice, making his eyes widen. Apparently, Minato had found a way to communicate through his thoughts as well.

'You don't approve?'

"Oh, I approve. Don't get me wrong, I love Kushina, and Taki, with all my heart, but I admit that they deserve to know the repercussions of their leaving. Of course, Taki can't be blamed too much. After all, Kushina raised her to believe that you were a demon."

"Is this spot taken?"

Naruto jumped slightly, and turned to see Kakashi standing behind him, for once not reading his Icha.

"Go right ahead," Naruto said, getting a nod from Kakashi, who sat down and looked over the village.

"Something seems to be troubling you."

"I'm that easy to read?"

"Not really. It's just that, the only times you come up here is if you want to think about something, or if something's troubling you," Kakashi said, giving Naruto an eye-smile.

Naruto smiled, then looked over the village again. "It's just that, I met my mom and Taki today, and I kinda chewed them out. Something is bothering me about it..."

"And that is?"

"Well, she's my mom, you know? All my life, I've wanted a mom, and now that I've found her, I hate her guts. All I wanna do is just call her Kaa-san, and give her a hug, but the abandonment is still there. She thought I was a demon up until a couple of weeks ago."

Kakashi put a hand on his shoulder. "Things like that leaves deep wounds on a man," he said quietly as he gazed down at the village sadly. Then, he turned to Naruto and gave him another eye-smile. "But don't worry, Naruto. Time heals all wounds, as they say. Just give it time. You don't have to decide right now whether you want to forgive Kushina-nee or not. However, I think you should give Taki a chance. After all, it was just the way she was raised. Kushina-nee chose to abandon you. Taki didn't."

Naruto decided to lay down, staring up at the sky, which had been dyed orange by the setting sun. "I guess."

"Don't dwell on it too much, okay?"

"You got it, sensei," Naruto said with a smile, which Kakashi mirrored. Then, he noticed something.

"Oh, you dyed your hair?"

Naruto blinked. "Say what?"

"Your hair," Kakashi explained. "It's blond again. Only the spikes are orange now."

Naruto ran a hand through his hair. "Hm, Tou-san must have pressured Megami to do it."

Kakashi blinked, copying Naruto's earlier response. "Say what?"

"Oh, right, you weren't in the hot springs when I told them," Naruto said and sat up. "Tou-san is sealed in me as well." Kakashi gaped, which made Naruto smile. "During the sealing, he placed his consciousness and a piece of his soul in the seal. He asked me to tell you that he was proud of your growth, but, and I quote, 'you're a grown man, lose the mask for Kami's sake.'"

Kakashi laughed at that. Minato had always been on his case about the mask. He said that Kakashi shouldn't be shy and hide his face. But Kakashi was not shy, damn it!

"That sounds like something sensei would say," Kakashi said as he got up. "Well, I hope you sort this whole thing out, Naruto. By the way, I recommended your for a jounin promotion. Later!"

With that, Kakashi disappeared, leaving a wide-eyed Naruto.

"Say what?!"

--The next day--

Naruto was standing in front of Sarutobi's old desk, which was now Tsunade's desk. The busty Hokage sat behind it, looking over a report.

"IQ test... Speed, strength and stamina... excellent..." Tsunade mumbled to herself as she stared down at the report. "Nin- and Taijutsu are also excellent. Average Genjutsu..." She hummed and set the paper down. "The elders all agree that you have the skills to be a jounin. However, you don't have enough experience. Before you can become a jounin, you will have to complete more A- and S-rank missions."

"Well, it's not like I'm in a rush to become a jounin," Naruto said, shrugging. "What are the odds of 12-year olds accepting the teachings of a 13-year old? I'll probably wait until I'm at least-"

The door to Tsunade's office opened, and Anko came walking in, Taki following closely. Taki's eyes widened when she spotted Naruto, who glanced back at her, making eye contact.

Anko looked between the two for a couple of seconds, remembering the meeting in the hot springs, but was broken from her thoughts by Tsunade's voice.

"Knock first, Anko. I've told you that several times now," she muttered as she rubbed her temples. "What do you want?"

"I came to request to take Taki as my official apprentice."

Tsunade nodded. "Naruto and I were almost done, anyway. Now, what were you saying, Naruto?"

Naruto broke his eye contact with Taki and looked to Tsunade again. "Like I said, I wanna wait until I'm at least 16. This way, I can train some more and get more experience. Besides, Kiba would never stop sulking if I became a jounin before he even became chunnin."

Tsunade nodded. "Jiraiya has talked about making you his official apprentice and taking you on a training trip. I think he wants some more one-on-one training with you. Now is as good a time as any, don't you think?"

Naruto nodded. "Will that be all?"

"That's all," Tsunade said with a nod, which Naruto returned, before walking off. However, he stopped when he reached his sister, glancing at her.

"Taki," he said, making her jump in surprise.

"Y-Yes?"

"Do you like dango?" Tsunade smiled at that. "Come on, I'm buying."

Taki blinked. "Uh, s-sure," she said as she looked up at Anko, who gestured for her to go.

--15 minutes later--

Taki was feeling very uncomfortable as she sat at a table outside Konoha's dango shop, sitting across from her brother, who was chewing on a dango stick, not really looking at her. They'd been sitting in silence for a while now, just eating their dango, and Taki was feeling more and more uncomfortable.

"So..." Taki started lamely, trying to think of something to say. "Why did you bring me here?"

"I've been treating you unfairly," Naruto said calmly as he looked into Taki's eyes. "I've been acting resentful to you for believing something you've no doubt been told from the moment you could understand words. That was unfair of me. Believe me, I'm happy to have a sister. I really am. It was just very hard for me to talk to someone who treated me like I was a demon," he said, making Taki wince at that. "And I'm sorry."

"I-It's no problem, really," Taki said as she played with a dango stick. "In fact, I'm the one who should be apologizing."

"It's useless to apologize to me. Unless the crimes committed against me are very severe, I don't like to dwell on the past," Naruto said with a shrug. "It comes with being the village's scapegoat." He noticed that Taki winced, and sighed. "I shouldn't have brought that up, right?"

"It's okay," Taki said as she smiled. "So... Going to be a jounin, huh?"

Naruto smiled.

The two spent the day talking, Naruto regaling her with a couple of his tales, about his mission to Wave, about breaking the record in the Forest of Death, about the invasion, and about his latest mission to bring back Tsunade, where he dealt a massive blow to Orochimaru by taking out his strongest fighter.

When asked about the gold Konoha plate on his shoulder, he explained what it was, which left Taki staring at it in awe.

Then, the conversation turned to Taki, about how she grew up. She informed him that they traveled a lot, to keep out of Konoha's sights, since Kushina hadn't wanted anything to do with that village.

When they were both done, the sun had started setting, and they were walking through the village, towards the graveyard.

"This is nice," Taki said with a smile. "You know, to have a brother, I mean."

"But it's gonna be a pain for the both of us," Naruto said, making Taki raise an eyebrow. "I mean, you're gonna start dating, and I'll have to go through the whole overprotective brother routine, and you'll get pissed when I chase away your dates with death threats of the goriest fashion."

Taki laughed at that. There were times when growing up when she actually wished for that.

"Ne, Nii-san," Taki said quietly as they walked into the cemetery. "Are you going to talk to Kaa-san?"

Naruto stayed silent for a few seconds as they walked towards the large statue at the end of the cemetery. It was a stone statue, which depicted a large flame, with a plaque below it that read, 'Hokage.'

"I don't know," Naruto said finally, sighing. "You, I had no problem talking to, since you were raised to believe what you believed. However, she knew how skilled Tou-san was at sealing, and she hardly even looked at me to see if I was a demon or not, considering that she left on the very same day that the Kyuubi was sealed in me," he said as they reached the monument. He stared at it for a few seconds, before speaking again. "She hurt me, imouto. It will take some time for those wounds to heal."

Taki sighed, but smiled anyway. "I understand, Nii-san. Well, I should probably go home before it gets dark," she said as she turned to leave. "I hope we'll see each other soon, Nii-san."

"Yeah. I'll see you around," Naruto said, waving at Taki as she walked away. He stood there for a while, staring at the monument, before tensing up. Quickly, he rushed around the monument and crouched down as two people approached it.

"-but isn't it weird, coming here to pay respect to a man who's not really dead?" came Sarutobi's voice. "I mean, he's still alive inside Naruto."

"Naruto won't even look at me if he has a choice," came the voice of none other than Kushina.

Sarutobi hummed as they reached the monument. "Well, you were, and you'll have to forgive my choice of words, a piss poor mother to him, after all."

Naruto nearly snorted at Sarutobi's lack of tact, and he could almost feel Kushina's glare.

"You don't think I'm suffering enough or something?" she asked. "You have to rub it in?"

"Well, I'm not the acting Hokage anymore, and I haven't been able to act like this for years, so yeah, I have to rub it in."

"You're a cold old man..." Kushina muttered, but Naruto could hear that she had a smile on her face.

The two stood in silence for a while, before Sarutobi spoke. "Kushina-chan, just give Naruto time."

"But I... I wanna be there for him... I want to make up for what I've done," Kushina whispered sadly. "He... He showed me just what the repercussions of my leaving him was... And I..."

Sarutobi sensed that Kushina was close to breaking down, and patted her on the shoulder, before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

Naruto was leaning against the monument as he heard Kushina start sobbing, followed by a noise that indicated that she'd collapsed, wailing loudly.

'Ugh, a crying woman...' he muttered in his mind. Slowly, he got up and walked around the monument, looking down at Kushina, who was on her knees, her face buried in her hands. Naruto stared down at her, tilting his head to the side. "What are you doing?"

Kushina jerked in surprise as her head shot up. She stared up at Naruto with wide eyes. "N-Naruto..."

Naruto knelt in front of her, staring at her with a raised eyebrow. "Crying isn't going to make anything better. Trust me, I know," he said, seeing Kushina cringe. Damn, what the hell was up with Kushina and Taki, making that damn jerking motion whenever he mentioned his childhood? It was his childhood that was fucked up, not theirs.

"Naruto..." Kushina whispered, looking down at the ground. "I'm so sorry..."

"I've already forgiven you," Naruto said calmly as he turned away from her, walking away. "It's being around you that I can't stand right now. Maybe some other day." With that, he vanished, leaving a confused Kushina, who was wondering how the hell he could forgive her so quickly.

--The next day--

"Up here again?"

Naruto, sitting on the Sandaime's head, looked back, to see the Sandaime himself walk up to him, no longer wearing the Hokage robes, since he was no longer the acting Hokage. Instead, he'd settled for an outfit that looked a lot like Jiraiya's, only it was dark gray, and he didn't wear the red vest/coat.

Naruto merely grunted as he went back to looking over the village, while Sarutobi sat down next to him.

"Naruto," Sarutobi said with a smile as he puffed on his pipe. "These last few years, I've watched over you, and you've grown into a fine young man. I'm proud of the man you've become."

"But?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow.

"But, Kushina is suffering right now. As much as I'd like to see her wallow in grief for what she did to you, I-"

"Save your breath, you old fart," Naruto said, grinning behind his mask. "You're way behind the times on this one. I've already forgiven her. I did it last night in the graveyard after you left."

Sarutobi blinked, surprised that he hadn't sensed the boy, but then smiled. "You're getting better, my boy. I wouldn't be surprised if Tsunade only gets a few years as a Hokage, before you kick her out of the office."

"Don't worry," Naruto said as he looked up at the sky. "I'm not gonna take the office until I'm at least 25." Sarutobi's smile widened, but it disappeared when Naruto spoke again. "Then again, I might have to take it before that. With as much as you smoke, you probably won't even be alive when I'm 25, and I'd like to take it while you're still alive."

Sarutobi huffed. "I'd like to think that I've got at least 15 more years left in me."

"Yeah," Naruto said with a calm smile on his face. "Kami know you could probably beat me into the ground still. Well, maybe you won't take me physically, but when it comes to Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, you'll probably kick my ass. Physically, you'd only beat me if you'd summon Enma."

Sarutobi chuckled and nodded. He had introduced Naruto to Enma when he showed him the Kuchiyose no Jutsu. Naruto had been all over the monkey, who'd called him an annoying brat. Naruto, naturally, countered with 'Old turd of monkey crap.' Enma had pounded Naruto into the dirt.

"So, when are you going on your training trip with Jiraiya?"

"In three days," Naruto said as he yawned, stretching. He laid down and put his hands behind his head. "He wants to get as much training done as possible." Sarutobi hummed to himself as he smiled, closing his eyes. Naruto glanced at him. "What're you getting so sentimental for?"

"Oh, just recalling a young buy dressed in orange who screamed for me to buy him ramen," Sarutobi said, getting a scoff from Naruto.

"Annoying little brat, that one."

"He grew up pretty nicely, though," Sarutobi said as he laid down as well. "Wow... This rock it pretty comfortable..."

"I wouldn't take my naps on it if it wasn't."

"True."

"Gonna miss you, old man."

"I'll miss you too, Naruto. I'll have no one to beat at Shogi for three years."

At that, Naruto snapped his fingers. "Oh, by the way, I figured out what you meant," he said, remembering an event from three years ago, when the two had been playing Shogi the first time.

--Flashback--

Sarutobi sat in front of a 10-year old Naruto, who was staring down at the Shogi board in frustration.

"You're too damn good at this, old man," Naruto muttered. "I can't even get one of your pawns without walking into a trap..."

Sarutobi chuckled as he puffed on his pipe. "I'd like to think of the board as Konoha, and the pieces as its inhabitants," he explained as Naruto made his move. Sarutobi had already counted on this, since it was the only move he could make where his piece wouldn't get taken. "I plan everything out in a way that I won't sacrifice anyone, unless it's absolutely necessary."

"We think alike," Naruto said. "But you're just too damn smart for me..."

"Thinking like me, huh?" Sarutobi mumbled as he stared down at the board. "Well then, who's the King?"

Naruto paused, and looked up at Sarutobi with a smile. "That's an easy one! It's the Hokage!"

Sarutobi sighed. "No, Naruto, it's not the Hokage."

"Then who?"

"When you realize that, only then can you truly work on become the Hokage."

"Oh, come on, you old fart! You can't just leave me hanging!"

--Flashback End--

"Well then," Sarutobi said, a bright smile on his face, "who's the King?"

"At first, I always thought the King was the Hokage, but then I realized that, if it was the Hokage, it wouldn't be the one to be protected, but instead doing the protecting, right?" Naruto explained, getting a nod from Sarutobi. "Then I thought, what is it that all Konoha ninja fight to protect? I only realized it a couple of days ago. It's the unborn children, the ones who will inherit the Will of Fire when we die."

Sarutobi patted Naruto on the arm. "Now, Naruto-kun, you can truly work on becoming the Hokage." Naruto smiled, but it soon faded when Sarutobi spoke again. "You're still a terrible Shogi player, though."

"Old bastard..."

--Three days later--

"This is it, huh?" Shikamaru asked as he, Kiba, Kakashi, Tsunade and Sarutobi were standing at the gate, with Naruto and Jiraiya in front of them. "It'll be three years before we see you again?"

Naruto nodded, and looked at Kiba. "Hey, Keebs, make sure to make chunnin before I get back, yeah? I mean, it'd be an embarrassment for you if I made jounin before that."

Kiba groaned. "Don't remind me... But don't worry, though. I'll make chunnin at the next exam."

"That's good," Naruto said as he gave Kiba a man hug, with lots of powerful claps on the back, and no rubbing whatsoever. "Take care of yourself."

"You too," Kiba said as he broke the hug. Naruto moved on to Shikamaru, giving him an equally manly hug, though it was under protest.

"And Shika, stop slacking off," Naruto said as he broke the hug and patted Shikamaru on the shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah..."

Naruto didn't give Kakashi a hug, but he did shake his hand. "Take care of yourself, sensei. Don't end up in the hospital too much, okay?"

Kakashi twitched, while Kiba grinned. "Don't worry, Naruto. We'll make sure he doesn't use his pink eye too much."

"P-Pink eye?!" Kakashi exclaimed with a glare.

As she hugged Naruto, Tsunade whispered in his ear. "If you let Jiraiya corrupt you, I'll neuter you."

Naruto chuckled. "Don't worry. There's no chance of that happening, Baa-chan."

Tsunade twitched at the nickname, but kept smiling. "Take care."

"I will. And be ready to make me jounin when I come back."

"With my training, you can easily become one!" Jiraiya proclaimed as Naruto walked over to him. "Well, we should head out. I'd like to get to the next town as soon as possible."

"I wonder why..." Naruto muttered, crossing his arms. Then, he waved at Sarutobi. "Don't die while I'm gone, old man."

"Don't worry about that, Naruto-kun," Sarutobi said with a smile. "You go on now, and become stronger."

They started walking away from the village, waving at Tsunade, Sarutobi and Team 7, who waved back, Kiba wailing about how he didn't have anyone to take his morning walks with, which earned him a bite from Akamaru.

Uzumaki Naruto wouldn't set foot in Konoha for three whole years.

--End--

**Well, what do you think? Eh? Eh? Like it? Taking a break, just so you know! In the next chapter, Naruto comes back, gets reacquainted with everyone, goes through his jounin test, and takes a dip in the hot springs!**

**R&R**

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	8. Chapter 8

Two men were walking down a dirt path surrounded by thick forest. In the distance, they saw the massive gates of Konoha. One was the legendary Jiraiya of the Sannin. The other was none other than Namikaze Naruto, son of the Yondaime Hokage, and container of the Kyuubi no Youko. He was dressed exactly the same as three years prior. The only difference was that he'd replaced his facemask with a mask consisting of bandages, like Momochi Zabuza. His hair had also grown, and was tied into a spiky ponytail, which stopped right between his shoulder blades.

His sleeve on his left arm had been rolled up to above his elbow, and the sleeve on his right arm was rolled up to the middle of his forearm, showing a mesh sleeve reaching down to his wrist.

"I wonder if Kiba made chunnin yet," Naruto mused as he stuffed his right hand into his pocket, while the other was holding Icha Icha Tactics, the latest in the Icha Icha series. Jiraiya, who was smiling proudly, a smile that he'd been unable to get rid of ever since he got Naruto hooked on his latest book, shrugged.

Taking Naruto on the training trip turned out to be the best decision he'd ever made. Naruto helped him with his writing, helping him to keep the smut in it, but still manage to add an equal amount of plot, action, romance and intrigue in the story. As it turned out, even women bought the book now, if only for the dramatic relationship between the womanizing hero, Shinsomaru, and the hardworking single mother, Shirayuki.

"Shira-chan," Naruto whispered, his eyes widening in shock as he read about how Shirayuki actually walked in on Shinsomaru when he slept with another woman. "No... How could you, Shinsomaru?"

Jiraiya snickered as he approached the gate. For some reason, Naruto seemed to be rooting for the woman in his book, instead of Shinsomaru, the manliest of manly men, in Jiraiya's opinion. He opened his mouth to speak, but snapped it shut when he saw Naruto glare at him.

"Don't you dare give me any spoilers, you bastard," Naruto hissed, his eye narrowing.

Jiraiya smiled as he crossed his arms. "You really like the book?"

Naruto nodded. "Of course. It's not just meaningless sex. Now I actually have a plot that I can follow." His gaze drifted back to his book as he flipped a page. He didn't even stop when they reached the gate. Jiraiya did, however, and showed the guards their passes. Naruto went wide-eyed again, shaking his head. "You did not just say that, Shinso..."

"Hey, Naruto," Jiraiya said as he caught up with Naruto. "We have to go to the Hokage Tower and announce our return."

"Naruto hungry," Naruto said absently. On cue, his stomach growled angrily at Jiraiya, as if telling him to buzz off, so Naruto could get some food. "Naruto eat first."

"Naruto go with Jiraiya to report in, or Naruto eat with Jiraiya's foot up his ass," Jiraiya said calmly. Naruto, who'd been halfway through making a right turn, which would lead him to the dango shop, spun 360 degrees, and continued down the path to the Hokage Tower, making Jiraiya snicker.

As they got closer to the Hokage Tower, Naruto growled to himself as he flipped a page in his book. "I swear, Shinso, if you were real, you'd be dead..." he muttered as he read about how Shinso cheated on Shira again. "And when the hell do we find out about Shira's big secret?"

'If even Naruto reads this avidly, this book is sure to sell like crazy,' Jiraiya thought, smirking in satisfaction. 'According to him, women will be all over this, especially judging by how well Icha Icha Ai sold. Naruto said that this is even ten times better than Ai.'

The duo stepped into the Hokage Tower and ascended the stair, up to the floor where Tsunade's office was located. Naruto couldn't, for the life of him, tear his eyes away from the book. He hardly even registered that they were already at Tsunade's office.

Jiraiya knocked, and heard an irritated, "Enter!" coming from inside. He opened the door and stepped in, grinning widely. "Tsunade, my sweet! We're back from our training trip!"

Tsunade, who'd been working on her massive amount of paperwork, looked up at the duo, her eyes wide. "Jiraiya! Naruto!"

"That's my name!" Jiraiya said, still grinning. "But don't wear it out, okay?"

Tsunade shot out of her chair and walked up to hug Naruto, but froze when she saw the book he was reading. "N-Naruto..." she whispered, a vein popping on her forehead. "What the hell are you reading?"

"Icha Icha Tactics," Naruto answered calmly. "It's a story about a poor woman who's in love with a jerk, who's supposed to be a hero, but the more I read, the more I hate the bastard..." he muttered, flipping another page in his book. Memorizing where he was, he snapped the book shut and put it in his kunai pouch, looking up at Tsunade. "Don't worry, Baa-chan. Thanks to me, it's not just full of smut anymore. Now, it's a very good read, with a moderate amount of smut in it. I'm not a pervert, if that's what you think."

In all honesty, Naruto was just as big a pervert as Jiraiya, but he was good enough to hide it, and knew how to act around women. Tsunade didn't need to know that, though. The blond in question let out a sigh of relief, and immediately pulled the blond in for a bone-crushing hug.

"It's good to have you back, brat," she said as she broke the hug, getting an eye-smile from Naruto.

"It's good to be back," he said and glanced at a disgruntled Jiraiya, who was pretty upset that he hadn't gotten a hug. "Well, we're here. Now can I go get me my well-deserved dango?"

Jiraiya glanced at Tsunade, who nodded. He smiled. "Go ahead, Naruto. I'll brief Tsunade-hime."

Naruto once more pulled out his book, waved, and then vanished in a swirl of leaves. He reappeared outside the Konoha dango shop, walking inside, and immediately spotting someone he recognized immediately. It was hard not to recognize the trench coat and the purple hair.

Mitarashi Anko was sitting at a table, happily scarfing down dango. Sitting in front of her was none other than Uzumaki Kushina and Uzumaki Taki. Taki had changed a lot in the last three years. She was now wearing black shinobi sandals, a long, black skirt with a slit up the side, and a black gi, with long, roomy sleeves. Underneath it, she wore a mesh shirt, and her hair was tied into a long braid, which reached down to her lower back. Another thing that Naruto noticed was the Konoha hitai-ate tied around her neck.

Kushina hadn't changed much, though. She wore a black kimono, and black shinobi sandals.

As Naruto placed his order, he made eye contact with Taki, who went wide-eyed when she saw him, and immediately shot out of her seat, making Anko and Kushina jump in shock. The girl ran over to Naruto, a wide smile on her face.

"Nii-san!" she exclaimed as she reached the blond, who smiled at her.

"Taki. It's been a long time," he said pleasantly as he looked her over. "You've changed, a lot. Just your attire makes you look strong. Bet you're a pretty formidable fighter."

Taki blushed at the praise as she smiled at her brother. "Benefits of having Anko as a sensei," she said with a shrug. Then, she smacked Naruto on the arm. "Why didn't you tell me when you were leaving?" she asked, pouting at him. "I spent an entire day looking for you, only to find out from your sensei that you had already left!"

Naruto smiled apologetically. "Sorry, imouto," he said as his dango was served. "I didn't really want too many people to know when I left. In fact, I didn't inform anyone, not even my own team. I let Baa-chan and Sarutobi-sensei handle that."

Taki, however, adopted a stern look as she put her hands on her hips. "Our mother is here," she said, and Naruto looked past her, to see that Kushina was staring at him from her spot at Anko's table. He nodded and looked at Taki again.

"I can see that," he said as he grabbed his plate with ten sticks of dango on it. Taki still looked sternly at him. He raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Are you gonna talk to her?" Taki asked, getting a shrug from Naruto.

"Why not?" he asked as he started walking towards Anko's table, Taki following. As they reached the table, Kushina immediately opened her mouth.

"Naruto..." she whispered, getting Anko's attention. The snake user looked up at Naruto, a smirk appearing on her face when she saw how much he'd grown. Even though he was now 16, he looked more like he was 19. Naruto sat down next to Anko, while Taki sat down next to Kushina again.

They sat in silence for a few seconds, Naruto separating the bandages in front of his mouth so that he could eat without taking it all off, and stripped a whole dango stick in one chomp. Swallowing, he raised an eyebrow at Kushina, who was just gaping rather stupidly at him. Then, he looked at Taki, who was glancing between him and Kushina. Then, he looked at Anko, who was doing the same.

"Spatula," he said suddenly, hearing Kushina's mouth snap shut as she, Anko and Taki looked at him like he was crazy. Calmly, he shrugged and took out his Icha again. "The uncomfortable silence was really getting to me. I had to break it." He looked around the table again. "So, what's new?"

"Naruto," Kushina said again. "Uh..."

"Yeah, striking up a conversation isn't really easy, is it?" Naruto asked with a chuckle. "I mean, what could we possibly say to break this annoying tension between us?" He looked carefree with his nose buried in his book, but anyone who really knew him would know see that he was tense.

Taki smiled. "Oh, I heard you were gonna be given a jounin exam," she said, getting an eye smile from Naruto.

"Yeah. I'm not exactly sure I'll ace the Genjutsu portion. I can detect and dispel them no problem. It's using them that I have trouble with."

"I'm sure you'll do great," Taki said, still smiling. Naruto shrugged.

"We'll see," he said as he got up, having finished his dango. "Well, I gotta head off. Time to meet my team. Haven't seen them yet."

"We were the first ones you came to see?" Kushina asked, shocked. She had not expected that.

"Not really," Naruto said, shaking his head. "You guys were third on my list. You just happened to be here when I got my dango, which was first on my list."

"Well, good luck in the exam, Nii-san," Taki said as she waved at Naruto, who walked away, waving as well.

–Training Ground 7–

Inuzuka Kiba, now Chunnin, dressed in black sandals, black pants, and a Chunnin vest, was sitting in front of Nara Shikamaru, a Shogi board between them. Kakashi was sitting on a rock beside them, occasionally looking up from his Icha Icha Ai to watch the game.

Kiba had his face set in a look of deep concentration, while Shikamaru looked bored. Slowly, Kiba reached for his Gold, then froze and looked up at Shikamaru, then back down at the board again, retracting his hand. He'd been repeating that for the last 15 minutes, reaching for a new piece every time.

"You know, Naruto took only five minutes at most to think of a move," Shikamaru muttered as he stretched.

"Shut up!" Kiba said, growling. Akamaru, who'd grown, a lot, to the size of a tiger, growled as well, while Shikamaru just looked bored.

Suddenly, a voice made all three of them, even Kakashi, jump in surprise.

"Your Knight can take his Gold, Kiba."

Kiba's head whipped around so fast, Naruto, who was standing behind him, was surprised his neck didn't snap.

"Naruto!" Kiba exclaimed as he shot to his feet, engulfing Naruto in a man hug. "You're back!"

Naruto broke the hug right before it broke the three-second rule, grinning. "It's been a while, Kiba. Chunnin yet?"

"You know it!"

Naruto patted Kiba on the shoulder. "I knew you'd do it," he said, before looking down at Shikamaru. "Yo, Shika! Ready for some real competition?"

"I hope you've been training, Naruto," Shikamaru said with a smile as he stood up, shaking Naruto's hand. Naruto gave him a thumbs up, then looked to Kakashi.

"It's good to see you again, sensei."

"Likewise, Naruto," Kakashi said, stuffing his book into his kunai pouch. "How are you?"

"Just great, now that I'm back," Naruto said with a grin. Then, his eyes widened. "Oh, right! A present for you, sensei," he said as he reached into his kunai pouch. He took out a new issue of Icha Icha Tactics, and handed it over to Kakashi, who went wide-eyed. "The latest in the Icha Icha series!"

Kakashi went wide-eyed. "T-This is... This isn't supposed to be out for another three weeks!"

"Well, Ero-sennin gave me two copies, and I only need one," Naruto said, shrugging. "It's excellent, if I do say so myself."

Kakashi smiled. "I hope it picks up where it left off in Ai."

Naruto nodded. "Both Shinso and Shira are returning, yeah."

"Oi, Naruto," Kiba said, getting his teammate's attention. "I heard a rumor that you were returning yesterday."

Naruto gave an eye-smile. "Oh, so sorry. A black cat crossed our path when we headed out of Lightning Country, so we had to take the long way here."

Kiba and Shikamaru sweatdropped, while Kakashi smiled proudly, flicking open his Icha at the same time as Naruto.

"So, you're gonna take the jounin exam now that you're back?" Kakashi asked, getting a nod from Naruto.

"Of course. I have a little more experience now." Naruto grinned. "And I'd like to think that I'm more than strong enough to be a jounin."

Suddenly, Naruto heard a loud bark, and turned his head, and found himself staring at the tiger-sized Akamaru. His jaw dropped.

"Holy crap, Akamaru?" he asked, getting a happy bark from the dog. "What the hell has Kiba been feeding you? Steroids?"

Akamaru just barked happily, and then pounced on the blond/redhead, knocking him to the ground.

–The next day–

"Alright, Naruto, are you ready?"

Tsunade was at Training Ground 7, with Naruto, Kakashi, Kurenai, Gai, and the Elders. Sarutobi was now among the Elders, staring at Naruto with a proud smile on his face. The two had agreed that they'd meet at the Hokage Monument after the test to get reacquainted.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Naruto said with a nod. Tsunade returned the nod.

"The first portion of the test will be a Ninjutsu test. You will go through a Ninjutsu-only battle with Hatake Kakashi. You have to last five minutes. Immediately after those five minutes are up, Yuuhi Kurenai will be up next, followed by Maito Gai five minutes after that."

"No break, eh?" Naruto asked as Kakashi jumped away from the sidelines, to land in front of him, lifting his hitai-ate. Naruto followed his lead, raising his own hitai-ate to reveal his bionic eye, closing his normal one.

The two stood there, staring at each other in silence, while Tsunade raised her hand.

"Hajime!"

Kakashi immediately started flashing through handseals, Naruto doing the same.

"Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu!" Naruto called out, finished his chain of seals before Kakashi, and puffing out his cheeks, before blowing a huge fire dragon at his sensei, seemingly engulfing him. However, Naruto smirked. "That trick won't work on me!" he exclaimed as he jumped into the air, just as a hand shot out of the ground beneath him. Naruto flashed through another set of seals. "Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu!"

He blew a huge ball of fire down at the spot where the hand was sticking up. It crashed into the ground, exploding it, along with the hand. However, Naruto just smirked as he landed, and a fire dragon soared at him from behind. Another Kakashi was standing behind him. The other had only been a Kage Bunshin. Naruto smirked, flashing through more seals.

"Suiton: Suijin Heki!" Out of the ground, a wall of water shot up, surrounding the chunnin. The dragon crashed into the wall, shrouding the area in steam. Naruto stood there, searching his surroundings for Kakashi, when he saw someone behind him, and managed to duck underneath a back spin kick, courtesy of Gai.

"Oi! It hasn't been five minutes yet!" Naruto exclaimed as he raised his arms, blocking another kick.

"Sorry for deceiving you, Naruto-kun! However, a jounin must be able to deal with the unexpected, and sometimes with several strong opponents at once."

"Tricked me, eh?" Naruto asked, pushing Gai away, and then coming at him with a kick to the head, which was blocked. He followed this up, though, with a flurry of punches and kicks. Gai's eyes widened when, in the middle of a barrage of kicks, Naruto created a Kage bunshin, and they both started flashing through handseals, turning around to look at Kakashi, who was behind him, on top of the water of the river, flashing through seals as well.

"Suiton: Suiryuudan no jutsu!" Kakashi called, summoning forth a large mass of water from the river, which formed into a huge water dragon that charged at Naruto.

"Katon: Zukokku (Fire Element: Head Mincing Pain)!" the real Naruto called, and fired a massive blast of fire at Kakashi, while his clone finished his seals as well.

"Fuuton: Atsugai (Wind Element: Pressure Damage)!"

Kakashi's eyes widened as Naruto's clone blew a large mass of wind into the fire attack, amplifying the power of the attack. The fire, burning everything in its path, crashed into the water dragon, turning it into steam as it continued charging at Kakashi, who's eyes widened even more.

Naruto didn't have time to see what happened to Kakashi, as he had to duck under a vicious kick from Gai. Then, however, his eyes widened.

'This is-!' He was shocked to find a tree shooting out of the ground behind him, branches growing out to wrap around him, holding him in place. 'Genjutsu!'

Kurenai suddenly grew out of the tree, holding a kunai at Naruto's throat, while Kakashi and Gai landed in front of him, both of them holding a kunai as well.

"It's over," Kakashi said, smiling. "You lasted pretty long, though."

"Over?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow. A grin was apparent on his face, which confused Naruto.

"I don't think so." Kakashi and Gai both turned around, to find Naruto standing some distance away, his hands in a Ram seal. "Bunshin Bakuha (Shadow Clone Explosion)!"

The Naruto trapped at the tree suddenly started glowing, and then exploded, sending the three wide-eyed jounins flying.

As the three jounins landed, a Naruto appeared in front of each of them, flashing through handseals.

"Katon/Fuuton Konbi-Jutsu: Goukarou no Jutsu (Fire Element/Wind Element Combination Technique: Hell Fire Prison Technique)!" all three exclaimed at once, thrusting their hands out. A ball of fire, enhanced by wind, surrounded the three jounins, who went wide-eyed inside their prisons.

"Goukarou no Jutsu?" Kakashi asked. "Never heard of it!"

"Of course you haven't, sensei," Naruto said with a smirk. "I invented it."

"Enough!" Tsunade blurred into view, standing where the clone had exploded. "Very good, Naruto. The test is over."

Naruto smiled as he and his clones released the prisons holding the jounins, before the clones poofed away, the real Naruto standing over Kakashi.

"The Elders and I will discuss your performance, and decide whether or not you are to be promoted," Tsunade explained, nodding to the jounins and Naruto. "Dismissed."

With that, she and the Elders blurred away, along with Gai and Kurenai, while Kakashi got to his feet, smiling.

"That was some jutsu, Naruto," he said as he patted Naruto on the shoulder. "Come on. I'll take you and the others out for a celebratory dinner. We haven't had Kiba's yet. He wanted to wait until you got back."

Naruto grinned. "Free dinner! Sweet!"

Kakashi just chuckled as the two disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

–BBQ joint–

Kiba's gleeful laughter reverberated throughout the BBQ joint. "Man, the best food in life is free food! Especially a free all-you-can-eat meal!"

"I'm glad to see that you haven't changed much, Keebs," Naruto said with a smile as he chewed on a dango stick, waiting for the meat to get ready. "So, what's new in this village?"

"Well, I don't know if you've heard, but Sasuke left the village," Shikamaru said, to which Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, I heard," he said. "I also heard that you two were part of the retrieval team."

Shikamaru sighed. "Yeah, my first mission as team leader failed."

"But it's understandable," Kiba said with a shrug. "I mean, we didn't have enough people. Even if Lee came near the end, we still didn't have enough. Everyone were occupied with fighting an enemy, and we couldn't send anyone after Sasuke before he managed to cross the border."

"That sucks," Naruto said, getting nods from his teammates.

"Other than that, nothing much has changed," Kakashi said, flipping a page in his Icha Icha Tactics. "Well, apart from the fact that they put Tsunade-sama's head on the Monument."

"And how was training?" Shikamaru asked, glancing at Naruto, who shrugged.

"So-so," Naruto said. "Ero-sennin was a lot more of the learn-yourself type of teacher. He'd give me instructions, and then go off to spy on a hot spring, or something like that."

"Speaking of which," Kiba said, grinning now. "It's mixed bath day today."

A grin identical to Kiba's appeared on Naruto's face. "I smell a male bonding coming up."

So, two hours later, Team 7, including Kakashi this time, could be found relaxing in the hot springs. They were disappointed, however, that there were no women in there when they arrived.

"I just hope we don't run into my mom and sister again," Naruto muttered as he enjoyed the warmth of the water. "That can really ruin the experience..."

"Hey, how did your exam go? Did you get your promotion?" Kiba asked, getting a shrug from Naruto.

"I don't know yet. Baa-chan and the Elders are gonna discuss my performance, and blah, blah, blah. I probably won't find out for a week."

"Don't worry, Naruto," Kakashi said with an eye smile, his face covered by a towel. "That's just official procedure. You were selected for jounin before you even left.

"Are we hitting the bar later?" Kiba asked, to which Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't know you were allowed to drink, Kiba."

"Are you kidding me?" Kiba asked, grinning. "My mom took me to the bar when I was 14. Claimed it'd help me build up character. The bartender was pretty shocked to see a mom dragging her son _into_ the bar, instead of out of it."

–The next day–

The team had went to the bar, and Naruto had found out how his teammates acted when they were drunk. Shikamaru became even lazier, Kiba became a flirt, flirting with any woman who came within three feet of him, and Kakashi... well, he didn't really change much. He just became a little more talkative, had a slight slur in his voice, and read less Icha Icha.

Kiba had drunk so much, he could hardly walk, so Naruto had agreed to walk him home. After that, all was black.

Therefore, Naruto was pretty shocked to find himself in a bed that wasn't his own, with an unfamiliar weight on his chest. Looking down, his eyes widened, seeing the peacefully sleeping face of Inuzuka Hana. Normally, he would have just assumed that they both just fell asleep, if it wasn't for the fact that they were both naked, and a strong smell of sex was in the room.

"Oh, shit..."

The noise woke Hana up, and she stretched lazily, looking up at him.

"Good morning," she said with a smile, crawling up to kiss him. However, she raised an eyebrow when she saw the shocked look on Naruto's face. "Let me guess, last night is just black for you?" Naruto nodded wordlessly, and Hana smiled again. "Understandable. You were pretty drunk last night, after all."

"Kiba's gonna kill me..." Naruto muttered finally, to which Hana chuckled.

"I doubt it. He talks a lot, Kiba. His bark is much worse than his bite, I can assure you. He wouldn't kill someone he considers a brother. Threaten you, maybe, but not kill."

"How can you be so calm about this?" Naruto asked, still in slight shock. Hana shrugged and laid down on Naruto's chest again, smirking.

"I'm his older sister. My little brother doesn't have a say in what I do."

"Maybe you don't have anything to worry about, but I do. There's the 'Teammate' rule..."

Hana scoffed. "Teammate rule... No one follows that rule anymore. It's obsolete."

"Are you sure he's going to be alright with this?"

"What's 'this,' exactly?" Hana asked curiously.

"Honestly, I have no idea what should happen now..." Naruto mumbled, stumped. Hana smiled and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

"How about we just go on a date, and see what happens?"

Naruto thought it over, then nodded. "Yeah, that actually sounds like a good idea."

"Good, it's settled then," Hana said calmly and laid her head down on Naruto's chest again. "Now, I'm sure we can get another hour of sleep in before Mt. Kiba erupts."

–Later–

_Team 7 Know-How, lesson 24: To quell Inuzuka Kiba's anger, buy him BBQ._

"My shishter..." Kiba muttered through a mouthful of meat, glaring at Naruto, who sat across from him in the booth, his arms crossed. Naruto cleared his throat.

"Yes, Kiba, your sister. You've said that fifteen times now."

"How could you, man?" Kiba asked after swallowing his food. "I mean, it's my sister!"

"Hey, it's not like it was just a one-night thing!" Naruto defended. "I honestly like your sister, and what happened last night made it clear that she really likes me as well, and we have agreed to go on a date, and see what happens."

Kiba crossed his arms, still glaring at Naruto. It was quiet for a while, and Naruto started sweating. Kiba's unblinking glare was a little unnerving.

"Kiba, I'd really like you to approve of this," Naruto said, breaking the silence. "Besides, if all goes well, and we get married, Kami be willing, you and I will really be brothers."

Kiba's glare softened at that.

"You're really gonna go for this, are you?"

"Keebs, I don't want to be alone the rest of my life, and I have to admit, Hana is among the top ten choices of women I can see a future with, _and_ she doesn't see me as a demon."

Kiba hummed. "I need some time to think about this," he said, then raised his hand. "Hey, waiter! Two full course meals! And pile on the rice!"

"O-Oi!" Naruto exclaimed, since it was his wallet that was gonna suffer. Kiba gave him a steely gaze, and Naruto sighed. "Right... Go ahead..."

–Later–

Naruto was standing in Tsunade's office, about to receive the result of his exam. With him was Tsunade, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Tsunade said, and Naruto straightened up as she held out a Jounin vest, which looked exactly the same as his Chunnin vest. "Due to your outstanding performance in your evaluation, on missions, and in the practical exam, I'm happy to promote you to the rank of Jounin. Wear the vest with pride."

"Don't make us regret this," Koharu spoke. "Show us that we were right to promote you."

"Don't worry," Naruto said as he took off his vest, putting on the new one. "I'm not planning on doing anything to disgrace the rank of Jounin."

"Now, I'd like a word with my new Jounin in private," Tsunade said, glancing at the Elders. "If you don't mind?"

Koharu and Homura nodded, leaving the office, while Sarutobi stayed behind.

"Can he stay?" Naruto asked, gesturing for Sarutobi, getting a nod from Tsunade.

"I only wanted Koharu and Homura to leave. They would have objected to this right away, since they still seem to believe Naruto is a child who needs to be protected at all times."

"So, it has something to do with Akatsuki, then?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow, to which Tsunade nodded.

"I'm putting together a special group, called the Nijuu Shoutai (Twenty Platoons). It consists of twenty four-man teams, two Jounin and two Chunnin in each. Their job is to hunt down and capture or kill any Akatsuki that crosses the Fire Country border." Seeing the hopeful look on Naruto's face, she interrupted him before he could so much as open his mouth. "This, however, doesn't mean that you won't be doing normal missions. You will do those as well, but any Nijuu Shoutai mission takes priority over the one you might be on."

"I can see why you didn't want Koharu and Homura in here. You want Team Kakashi to be part of the Nijuu Shoutai?" Sarutobi asked, and Tsunade nodded.

"Yes. Naruto, I want you to inform your team of this."

"Will do," Naruto said with a nod. "Will that be all, Baa-chan?"

Sarutobi snickered, while Tsunade twitched, then nodded.

"Yes, that'll be all. Now get the hell out of my office."

"Come on, Naruto-kun," Sarutobi said, patting Naruto on the shoulder. "Let's get some dango."

-Later, dango shop-

"Man, it's good to be back," Naruto said as he chewed on a dango stick, looking out into the street. He was sitting at a table near the entrance, so he could get a good look at the outside.

"It's great to have you back, Naruto," Sarutobi said with a smile. "You've grown even more."

"I know, I'm even more dashingly handsome now," Naruto said, grinning as he took out his Icha, flipping it open.

Sarutobi smirked at Naruto. "So, Inuzuka Hana, eh?"

"She's one hell of a woman," Naruto said with a wistful sigh.

"I'd tell you that she's too old for you, or that you're too young, but I'd most likely get insulted for it, so I'm just gonna stay quiet and eat my dango," Sarutobi said, getting a nod of approval from Naruto, who decided to change the subject.

"So, how are you enjoying retirement?"

"It's great," Sarutobi said in a tone that indicated that it was anything but great. "I get to sit in a room with my annoying teammates for an hour every day, discussing Tsunade's performance, with an occasional visit from Danzo. It's fun..."

-Three days later-

"Yo, Naruto."

Naruto, sitting on top of the Hokage Monument, overlooking the village, looked back to see Kakashi standing behind him, looking down at him curiously.

"What's up?"

Naruto looked back down at the Rasengan in his hand, shrugging. "I'm just trying to figure out how to mix my elemental chakra into the Rasengan," he said. "Even tou-san and yourself failed to do it. Throughout the last year of my training, I focused solely on trying to mix them, but it's way harder than I expected..."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Kakashi said, sitting down next to Naruto and staring at the Rasengan. "It's not the mixing itself that's hard, but focusing on both mixing and maintaining it at the same time."

"Yeah..."

The two sat there for near ten minutes, just staring at the Rasengan and trying to come up with a solution for the problem.

"The problem is the focus, right?" Kakashi asked as he held out his hand, holding it over the Rasengan. "Let me try something... Keep maintaining it."

Naruto nodded and waited. Then, a spark shot out of the Rasengan, then another, and another. Then, it stopped as Kakashi pulled his hand away, humming.

"Left and right..." he muttered to himself, causing Naruto to blink.

"Say what?"

"Hm? Oh, nothing. Just a problem I heard from a kid the other day. He needed to weed out his mother's garden, but he also had to focus on making sure his cat didn't run away. He asked me to help him watch the cat while he worked, and when I asked why, he said, 'Well, have you ever tried looking left and right at the same time? It's not easy,'" Kakashi explained, making Naruto's eyes widened, since he realized that Kakashi's excuse for being late that time was actually true. "As a joke, I just created a Kage Bunshin, and made it look right, while I looked left. That's your problem. You're trying to look left and right at the same time. You just need someone else to look left, while you look right."

Naruto's jaw dropped at that. It was so simple!

"I can't believe that I never thought of that..." Minato muttered in Naruto's head.

"Of course, seeing as sensei is dead," Kakashi said, then stopped and looked at Naruto's stomach, "or rather, indisposed, you're probably the only one who could do it, with your chakra reserves."

The Rasengan in Naruto's hand faded, and he leaned back with a sigh. "Man, that was so simple!" he complained, pouting behind his mask of bandages. "I can't believe I've never thought of it before!"

"But, why would you create a new jutsu like that?" Kakashi asked, raising an eyebrow. "The Ranran Dageki should be good enough, shouldn't it?"

"The Ranran Dageki is an excellent assassination jutsu," Naruto said as he sat up again. "But the Rasengan, though classed as an assassination technique, is a jutsu of mass destruction, wouldn't you say? It's not very stealthy. So, I want the Dageki for assassination, and an elemental Rasengan for mass destruction."

"That's true," Kakashi said, nodding. "In a battlefield, facing multiple enemies, a mass destruction jutsu would be good."

-The End-

**Alright! Here's the revised chapter 8. Chapter 9 is also being revised as we speak. It will be a whole makeover. None of what was in the original will remain. I realized that most of you haven't seen the third Naruto Shippuuden movie, so I'm changing it.**

**R&R**

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	9. Chapter 9

**Here's the revised chapter 9.**

–Begin–

"Listen up!" Tsunade was standing on the roof of the Hokage Tower, with the Nijuu Shoutai in front of her, standing at attention. On her right was Shizune, and on her left was a monk from the Fire Temple. "Two Akatsuki members have been spotted in the Fire Country. They attacked the Fire Temple, presumably looking for the Kyuubi. The Nijuu Shoutai was assembled for exactly this reason."

"Excuse me, Hokage-sama," Asuma said, raising his hand. "At the Fire Temple, there's a man, Chiriku. What happened to him?"

Tsunade's eyes turned sad as she looked at the monk, who looked like he was barely keeping himself from bursting into tears.

"Chiriku-sama... was killed by them..."

Asuma's eyes widened in shock at hearing that. Naruto looked at him sympathetically. During his time training under the Sandaime, he'd gotten to know Asuma, and learned that he used to be part of the Twelve Ninja Guardians, who protected the daimyou. Chiriku of the Fire Temple was also part of the Twelve, and was a very good friend of Asuma. Kami knows how Naruto would've reacted if he found out that Kiba or Shikamaru had died. Asuma kept his emotions in check surprisingly well.

"For the sake of Konoha's prestige, and above all else, the safety of the Fire Country, we can't allow these people to move freely! I also want to know what they are after, but these are dangerous opponents. Do not let them leave the country! Find them, no matter what! And if you can't capture them, kill them!"

"Hokage-sama," jounin Raido said, raising his hand. "One of their objectives is no doubt to get the Kyuubi. Is it really so smart to send Naruto and his team out?"

Naruto scoffed, crossing his arms.

"Try and stop us," Kiba said cockily, grinning widely, before exchanging high-fives with Naruto.

"What he said," Naruto said, gesturing for Kiba.

"Now, if there's nothing else," Tsunade said, raising her hand. "Dismissed!"

The shinobi on the rooftop dashed off at once, Team 7 following Team Asuma, consisting of Asuma, Chouji, Izumo and Kotetsu.

"Asuma-sensei," Naruto said as they dashed out of the gates of Konoha. "Would you like to start your search at the Fire Temple?"

"You sure you don't wanna do that?" Asuma asked, and Naruto shook his head. Kakashi, running alongside Naruto, with Kiba and Shikamaru behind them, smiled at Asuma.

"We think it'd be best for you to see him, one last time, yeah?"

Asuma smiled as well. "Thanks, Kakashi, Naruto."

"Later, Asuma-sensei," Naruto said, and with a hand sign, Team 7 broke off from Team Asuma, dashing into the woods. Kakashi looked at Naruto strangely as they tree hopped.

"What are you thinking, Naruto?"

"I didn't want to bring this up to Asuma-sensei, but... Chiriku has a 30,000,000 ryou bounty on the black market," Naruto said, thinking hard. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"Bounty?" Shikamaru asked, humming. "If the Akatsuki knew about the bounty, then..."

"They would probably take his body to an exchange point, right?" Kiba finished, getting a nod from Kakashi. Team 7 stopped on a branch, and Kakashi looked around.

"Who has Fire?"

"I do," Kiba said, digging his hand into his kunai pouch and taking out a red pocket book, with the kanji for Fire Country on it. He opened it, and started skimming through it. "Exchange point... exchange point... exchange point... Aha!" He stopped at a page and looked it over. "Konoha has so far discovered five exchange points located in Fire Country."

Naruto nodded, digging into his pouch and taking out a scroll and a pen, jutting down something, then rolling it up and biting his thumb, going through some handseals.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" he called, pressing his hand against the branch. With a poof of smoke, Pakkun appeared, striking a ridiculous pose.

"Hello! You called for me, so I came as quickly as I could! Pakkun-sama has arrived!"

Team 7 showed its teamwork by sweatdropping in perfect synch.

"Pakkun..." Naruto muttered, holding out the scroll. "Take this to Konoha. Make sure they send out the message as fast as possible."

"Got it," Pakkun said, turning serious. He took the scroll in his mouth, then dashed off back to Konoha.

"So, we're finally facing off against Akatsuki, huh?" Kiba asked a little nervously. Shikamaru nodded. "Are we all ready for this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Naruto confirmed, getting a nod of agreement from Shikamaru and Kakashi.

"Alright, then, shall we go to the nearest exchange point?"

"Let's."

–Later–

Team 7 stopped on a branch where the forest stopped, looking over a big, white building, made of cement. On the stairs in front of the front doors of the building sat a white-haired man in an Akatsuki cloak, a huge, three-bladed scythe on his back, looking annoyed.

"He's alone. His partner is probably inside," Shikamaru said, rubbing his chin. "Alright, here's the plan..."

The Akatsuki member, sitting on the stairs, sniffed the collar of his cloak.

"Ugh... I spent all of five minutes in that shithole, and my clothes still reek..." He heard someone walking behind him, and grunted. "Finally. Took you long enough," he said as he looked back, only to see someone who wasn't his partner. Kiba was standing there, Akamaru at his side. He grinned as he hurled three shuriken at the man, who spun around while drawing his scythe, deflecting the shuriken, then sending the scythe flying at Kiba, who barely dodged in time. The speed was insane!

The Akatsuki's eyes widened when he found that he couldn't move. Looking up, he saw Shikamaru sitting on the roof of the building, his shadow stretching down to connect with his own.

"Too late," Shikamaru said with a smirk. Just then, Kakashi and Naruto appeared on either side of the Akatsuki, Raikiri in Kakashi's hand, and Ranran Dageki in Naruto's. The two punched their hands through the Akatsuki, Kakashi's hand piercing through the side of his chest, and Naruto's piercing through the side of his abdomen.

"Heh, one down," Kiba said with a grin. The grin disappeared, however, when the Akatsuki just looked disguntled.

"That hurt, damn it! What's your problem?"

Team 7 went wide-eyed at that, and Naruto and Kakashi were thoroughly confused. A total of four vitals had been hit with that attack.

"What are you?" Kakashi asked, still wide-eyed. "Are you immortal?"

"Now you get it," the Akatsuki said, obviously bored. "And... who are you guys?"

"Watch the hitai-ate, numb skull," Naruto said, glaring at the man. "We're Konoha shinobi. We came to stop and wipe out all you Akatsuki bastards."

"We know you work in two-man teams," Kakashi continued. "So we decided to take out one of you first. You obviously possess great skills."

The man chuckled in amusement. "Well, let me tell you, you guys fucked up on the order."

Naruto's bionic eye, which had been searching for the other guy, made him go wide-eyed. "Shikamaru! Behind you!"

Shikamaru, shocked, just then felt the presence of some one behind him, and dodged just in time for a fist to smash into the roof where he'd been just a millisecond earlier. Dodging, however, broke the Kage Mane on the Akatsuki, so Naruto and Kakashi, as quick as they could, pulled their hands out of him, and dashed away, along with Kiba, grouping up with Shikamaru some distance away.

"Right in the middle of things... surprisingly, money came looking for you, Hidan," the new guy said. He was a very intimidating man, wearing a face-mask and a Taki headband. His eyes, however, have black sclera, and sickly green irises.

"Kakuzu, don't interfere," the immortal, Hidan, said, glaring at the Konoha ninjas. "These guys will be my ceremonial offerings. You handle the money," he said as he put his foot down on a puddle of blood, and started drawing a circle on the ground.

"In that case, it's fine. Just leave the blond one alive. He is the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. Don't let your guard down, or you'll die."

Hidan chuckled. "Why are you telling me that? If they can actually kill me, I want them to kill me. It's impossible, after all!" By now, Hidan had made a triangle within the circle, grinning widely.

"They want me alive, remember?" Naruto whispered to his team. "This guy obviously has insane skills, so it's best if I take him head-on. Once I'm distracting him, you bind him with Kage Nui, Shika."

"And me?" Kakashi asked.

"Until we can get a good scope on his abilities, it's best if we wear ourselves out slowly," Shikamaru said, agreeing with Naruto. "Kakashi-sensei, you don't have the best of stamina. You keep an eye on that Kakuzu guy, and make sure he doesn't interfere. Kiba, if Naruto gets into trouble, I need you and Akamaru to back him up."

"Copy Ninja, Hatake Kakashi," Kakuzu spoke in his dark, intimidating voice, which sent shivers down Team 7's spines. It was like his words were dripping with blood. "60,000,000 ryou for the body in Iwa, and another 40,000,000 for your Sharingan."

"Well, they've succeeded in creeping us out," Kiba muttered.

"Alright, here I go, Shikamaru," Naruto said, and Shikamaru nodded. Naruto took out a three-pronged kunai and charged at Hidan, who grinned widely.

The two clashed, making Naruto go wide-eyed when he noticed that Hidan had no need for defense in his moves. The scythe came at him with wild abandon, and Naruto was hard pressed to dodge and attack. Growling, Naruto jumped back and launched the kunai at Hidan, who deflected it. That kunai was soon followed by five others, all of which Hidan deflected, scattering them around him in boredom.

"Are you really a jounin?" Hidan asked, yawning as Naruto took out a new kunai. "I mean, you're fighting like a genin."

Naruto grinned, and all the warning Hidan got was a growl from Kakuzu, who recognized the kunai.

"Hidan!"

Before he'd even finished calling out to his partner, Naruto had flashed away, appearing behind Hidan and kicking him in the back. Hidan, surprised, grunted and spun, only for Naruto to disappear and deliver another attack to his back. This went on, Naruto flashing back and forth from kunai to kunai, while Hidan slashed at him wildly, getting more and more annoyed by the second. Then, however, Hidan's eyes widened when he felt a pain in his wrist, and looked down to see that a shadow had risen from the ground, piercing through his wrist and wrapping around it. Then, fifteen other tendrils of shadow rose from the ground, and Hidan only had a split second to react before they all pierced his body, and limbs keeping him restrained.

"Go, Naruto!" Shikamaru said, straining from the amount of strength it took to keep this guy down. Naruto nodded, holding up his hand.

"Kaze no Yaiba (Blade of Wind)," he whispered as wind started gathering around his hand. Unseen to the naked eye, but visible to Kakashi and Naruto, who had chakra-seeing eyes, a long blade of wind chakra hand formed in Naruto's hand, and he charged at Hidan.

"O-Oi! Kakuzu! Don't just stand there!" Hidan yelled. "Help me ou-"

Blood splattered on the ground as Hidan head was lopped off, flying away from his body, propelled by the wind surrounding the blade and rolling away as it thumped into the ground.

Kakuzu just stared at the head, looking... bored?

"Didn't I tell you not to let your guard down?"

Shikamaru let the Kage Nui on the headless body go, and retracted his shadow. "One more to go."

"If you wanted me to help, you should have asked earlier," Kakuzu told the head, getting strange looks from the members of Team 7.

"Fuck you, Kakuzu!" the head suddenly yelled, making the Konoha shinobi go wide-eyed. "You did it on purpose!"

Naruto stared down at the head, wide-eyed.

"You were the one who told me not to interfere from the start... and now, as a goddamn _head_, you're giving me crap?"

Hidan stopped at that, and cleared his throat, however that worked.

"I might have told you not to interfere, and I might have told you all those things, but... it's not like I was trying to embarrass you, or make you look bad..." When Kakuzu just stared, Hidan plastered on a sickeningly sweet smile. "Kakuzu-chan, bring my body to me, will ya? Pretty please with sugar on top?"

Kakuzu stared for another moment, and then blurred away, reappearing by the head. He leaned down and picked it up by the hair, getting a yell of pain.

"Gah! Damn it, Kakuzu! My body! I said, bring me my body!"

"Your head's lighter," Kakuzu said calmly.

"Ouch! Ow, ow, ow! Hey, Kakuzu! Don't pull my hair out!"

"If you're gonna complain about the pain, complain about your neck instead," Kakuzu muttered, his left eye twitching in irritation.

"You stupid prick!" Hidan growled. "My neck isn't even in the same league! This is more than just an injury!" He directed a glare at Naruto. "This freaking hurts, damn you! Cutting off my head like that! This hurts like hell, you bastard!"

"Even if he's still living, in that condition he's harmless if he isn't connected to a body. Even as an immortal, he can't do anything like that," Shikamaru said, smirking, while Naruto was just locked in a staring contest with Kakuzu.

"Your move," Naruto told Kakuzu, who blurred away. Naruto, anticipating the attack from behind after seeing Kakuzu's previous show of speed, hurled a three-pronged kunai at his team, which was caught by Kiba, at the same time as he flashed away to a kunai next to Hidan's body, grabbing it and flashing back to his team.

"Now what?" Kiba asked.

"We need that head," Kakashi said. "If we have both the body and the head, we know that Hidan is neutralized, and can focus on Kakuzu.

"Same drill," Shikamaru said. "Only this time, all three of you go, but keep your distance. We still don't know what this bastard can do."

"Very good," Kakuzu said. "Here, let me make it easier for you."

With that, Kakuzu tossed Hidan's head at them, ignoring the cries of protest. He then set the briefcase in his other hand down on the ground.

"Oi! Kakuzu!" Hidan cried as he rolled to a stop at Naruto's feet. "What the fuck are you doing, you fucking bastard?"

"You're annoying, shut up," Kakuzu said as he stared at the Konoha ninjas. "Now, unlike my moronic partner, I do not underestimate my opponents. Because of that... you will regret ever getting out of bed this morning."

"Let's go, Naruto, Kiba!" Kakashi said, dashing forward. Kiba grinned as Akamaru performed the Juujin Bunshin. The two jumped into the air and started spinning.

"Gatsuuga!"

Kakuzu grunted as Kiba and Akamaru smashed into him kicking up a cloud of dust. Naruto and Kakashi, who'd just been about to reach Kakuzu, jumped back to avoid getting hit. Soon, Kiba and Akamaru came shooting out of the dust, landing next to Naruto.

"This is weird," Kiba muttered. "He didn't even try to dodge..."

"He used a jutsu in there," Naruto said, his eye having looked at what happened in the dust, which was beginning to clear. "It covered him in chakra, but I don't know what it did."

"Whatever he did, it felt like I smashed into steel."

"A powerful attack," came Kakuzu's voice as the smoke cleared, to show that his skin was now black, and he didn't have a scratch on him. "However, no physical attacks can harm me." Only now did Kakuzu notice something. Kakashi was nowhere to be seen. Just then, the ground behind Kakuzu broke, and Kakashi shot out of it, punching a Raikiri through Kakuzu's back. Kakuzu grunted in pain, his eyes screwed shut as Kakashi's hand broke out of his chest.

"H-How...?" Kakuzu wheezed out.

"The seals you used for this technique were Earth-based, the weakness of Lightning. You were unfortunate to have me as your opponent," Kakashi said. Kakuzu tried to move, but failed, his eyes slowly closing. Then, he stopped breathing, slumping. Kakashi pulled his hand out of him and let him drop to the ground.

"Way to go, sensei!" Kiba cheered with a grin.

"Got your heart, huh?" Hidan's head asked, laying by Shikamaru's side. "Man, you suck, getting his after acting all cool like that."

"Let's-" Kakashi started, but was abruptly cut off as Kakuzu suddenly shot to his feet, and kicked Kakashi in the chest, sending him flying.

"Sensei!" Shikamaru, Kiba and Naruto cried as Kakashi smashed into the ground, slowly rolling to a stop, where he slowly pushed himself to his feet. That kick had been horrifyingly powerful, stronger than one of Gai's punches.

"So, you bypassed my Iron Skin," Kakuzu said as he started unbuttoning his cloak. "Congratulations, Kakashi. But the gloves are off now." With that, Kakuzu threw off his cloak, making Team Seven go wide-eyed. His entire body was riddled with stitches, and on his back were four strange masks sewn to his skin, one of which was completely torn up, thanks to Kakashi's Raikiri.

Kakuzu leaned forward and let out a strained growl as the skin on his back started bulging. Then, the stitches broke, a huge mass of black tendrils shot out of his back, along with the masks, slowly taking a somewhat humanoid form at Kakuzu's sides.

"What the fuck is this guy?" Kiba asked, horrified. Suddenly, one of the creatures, the one with the broken mask, let out a dying noise as it slumped to the ground, turning into black liquid. "Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"Life's a fleeting, you know?" Kiba said, gulping. "If we make it out of this, I'm giving you permission to date my sister."

Naruto smiled. "Thanks, man. I'd give you permission to date mine, but I hear she's getting chummy with Shikamaru."

"Heh, I've got my eyes set on Hinata, anyway."

"With this..." Kakuzu said, putting his hands in a Ram seal, "...it's over."

"Don't give him time to attack!" Naruto exclaimed, going through three lightning fast seals, charging up another Ranran Dageki and charging one of the creatures, whose mask just opened its mouth.

"Fuuton-"

"Too slow!" Naruto exclaimed as he flashed away, to the kunai which was conveniently located right in front of the creature, and punching his hand through the creature's mask, making Kakuzu go wide-eyed. He the saw Kiba using Gatsuug, heading for another creature. Seeing this, he went through seals to perform another jutsu, but Naruto was on his right away, engaging him in a Taijutsu battle.

One creature dodged Kiba's Gatsuuga over and over, while the other dodged Kakashi's surprise Raikiri from behind.

"Oi, oi, oi," Hidan muttered. "Kakuzu is getting the snot kicked out of him..."

"He's right," Shikamaru muttered. "You really are annoying..."

"Hey-" Hidan tried to cuss him out, but Shikamaru rammed a cloth into his mouth, then ran off to get closer to the fighters.

Naruto exchanged punches and kicks with Kakuzu grunting every time he blocked a strike, which felt like stopping a raging bull. He didn't like the confident look on Kakuzu's face. It was like he wasn't even fighting seriously...

Turned out that he wasn't. When Naruto blocked a hook to the face, he was surprised to see Kakuzu's arm breaking off at the elbow, held together by black tendrils. The arm swung around Naruto's block, and connected with his cheek, sending him crashing into the ground. He wasn't given time to think about what had just happened, as he had to roll away from a stomp.

Growling, he swept Kakuzu's feet out from under him, and followed through with an axe kick to the chest.

Kakuzu was quick to recover, however, shrugging off the blow and flipping to his feet, along with Naruto.

"Why, you little-" Kakuzu stopped, finding that he couldn't move. "What the...?"

"Gotcha," came Shikamaru's voice. "Kage Mane no jutsu is a success."

"Nice one, Shika," Naruto said, panting slightly. Every muscle in his body was aching after that one. Looking around, he saw that Kakuzu's two creatures were also frozen. "Can you move the back a little? I have a new jutsu I want to try out, and I need a little time."

"Kiba!" Shikamaru called to the tired Inuzuka, who'd been attacking and dodging lighting attack that were thrown at him with wild abandon. "I need a little chakra."

"Coming," Kiba said as he jogged over to Shikamaru, followed by Kakashi, who'd received a look from Naruto. Kiba put his hands on Shikamaru's wrist and started pumping his chakra into him, helping to fuel the Kage Mane. Now, Shikamaru started to move backwards. The creatures and Kakuzu conveniently had their back toward each other, and mimicked Shikamaru's movements, until they were back to back.

"Now keep them there," Naruto said as a Kage Bunshin popped into existence next to him. He formed a Rasengan in his right hand, and the clone held his hand over it, filling it with Wind chakra. Kakashi went wide-eyed at that.

"He's managed to complete it?" he asked with a gasp. Naruto grinned as a high-pitched shriek started to fill the air. The Rasengan now had a shuriken made of wind around it, spinning fast and growing bigger and bigger.

After a few tense seconds, the clone grinned.

"It's done!" he exclaimed, then dispelled, while Naruto charged forward.

"Take this!" Naruto yelled at Kakuzu as he stabbed his hand forward. "Fuuton: Rasen Shuriken!"

The Rasen Shuriken smashed into Kakuzu's chest, getting a cry of pain from the Akatsuki. It tore into his chest, and then propelled him away from Naruto, the wind kicking up a tornado of microscopic wind blades, which enveloped the two creatures as well. The tornado turned into a dome, which grew bigger and bigger. The wind was so powerful, Team 7 was almost blown off their feet, even through they were nowhere near the giant dome. Hidan's head even started rolling away, which caused him to curse, though it was muffled by the cloth.

Soon enough, the dome shrank and faded away, revealing a huge crater, which had taken a chunk of the building as well. Kakuzu and the creatures were suspended in mid-air, the attack still slicing them up. However, the creatures masks turned to dust, and they melted into that strange, black liquid as well. Then, the attack stopped, letting Kakuzu fall to the ground, bleeding all over.

"Now _that_ was one hell of a mass-destruction jutsu!" Kiba exclaimed, his eyes still wide with shock, getting a bark of agreement from Akamaru. They all looked at Naruto, to see that he was hunched over slightly, panting. His right hand and arm, up to his elbow, was completely torn up, gushing blood.

"Man... I gotta learn to throw that thing..." Naruto muttered, holding up his shaking right hand. "This just won't do..."

–That night–

"To Naruto's badass jutsu!" Kiba said, raising his saucer of sake, as Team 7 sat in the bar, drinking to today's success. Naruto's right arm was in a cast, hanging uselessly from a sling.

"To Shikamaru's Kage Mane," Kakashi said, nodding in Shikamaru's direction as he raised his own saucer.

"To Kiba and Akamaru's Gatsuuga," Shikamaru said, also raising his saucer.

"To Kakashi-sensei's Raikiri," Naruto said, grinning, also raising his own.

"To Team 7," the four said in unison, then downed their alcohol, Kakashi downing his so fast that they didn't even register when he started pulling down his mask.

"But man, that jutsu packed quite a punch, Naruto," Kiba said, grinning at the embarrassed blond.

"Well, it hurt me as well. I have to learn to throw it. It'll be easier that way."

"Yeah, we wouldn't want Chiyo-sama to have to replace your right arm as well," Kakashi said with a chuckle.

"She's already made me a right arm, for just such an occasion..." Naruto muttered. "She's a very scary woman..."

"Well, our first brush with Akatsuki went down rather well, I'd say," Shikamaru said. "No lasting injuries, and no casualties."

"And a prisoner," Kiba added. "The T&I squad is gonna have a field day with that immortal freak."

"Oh, right! I almost forgot, I have something for you three," Kakashi said, reaching into his kunai pouch and taking out a scroll. Pushing his hand against a kanji, he summoned a gift-wrapped box, handing it to Naruto. Next, he summoned another box and handed it to a confused Kiba, followed by an intrigued Shikamaru. "I felt these things were necessary to introduce the cool new generation."

The three students, at Kakashi's prompting, opened the boxes, and gasped at what they saw. Naruto, from his box, took out a long coat, one eerily similar to the Yondaime's in design, only this one was dark orange, with black flames at the bottom, and the Uzumaki symbol on the back. Shikamaru had received a deer skin vest, much like the one his father wore, only Shikamaru's was newer, and less tattered. Kiba, however, got a black, sleeveless leather coat with a black wolf fur collar on it.

"Sensei..." Kiba muttered, staring at the coat in awe. "This..."

Naruto had already stood up and put on the coat (with some difficulty due to his arm), admiring it with a huge grin on his face.

"This is awesome!"

"Did you talk to my dad?" Shikamaru asked, putting on the vest and running his fingers over the material.

"Yup," Kakashi said proudly as Kiba put on his coat as well. "And I talked to Tsume to see what kind of material you could wear that you wouldn't consider animal abuse."

"Anything that comes from a proper hunt is useable," Kiba said as he nuzzled his new collar with his cheek, then looked at Kakashi with huge, teary eyes. "Sensei..."

Kakashi only had a split second to react, before he was hugged from two sides by two overly emotional students.

"Thank you!" Kiba cried, anime tears flowing down his cheeks.

"This is the best gift I've ever- Ow, fuck, my arm!"

Shikamaru just snickered from his position, far away from the hugging men. "Thanks, sensei."

–Elsewhere–

"_Hidan and Kakuzu have been defeated,"_ the leader of the Akatsuki said, his projection looking over the other projections in the cave.

"_Those two finally died, huh?"_ Kisame asked, grinning. _"Who managed to take them out?"_

"_The Kyuubi jinchuuriki and his team,"_ the leader said. _"He is getting powerful. Too powerful."_

"_As expected, un,"_ the one with one of his eyes covered by his hair said, nodding. _"He is the son of Iwa's most hated enemy, after all."_

"_So that's Hidan and Kakuzu gone,"_ the leader said, then looked at the one with one eye covered again. _"Where is Sasori, Deidara?"_

"_I don't know, un,"_ Deidara said, shrugging. _"He was going to meet with his spy at Orochimaru's, but he hasn't come back, un."_

"_Something may have gone wrong. Find him."_

"_Will do, un."_

"_Itachi, Kisame, you will find the Yonbi. Our sources tell us that he has his village, along with the Gobi."_

Itachi was quiet, but he nodded.

"_Now,"_ the leader said, staring down at the woman laying on the floor in front of them, _"time to seal the Nibi."_

–The next day–

Naruto was once more sitting in his favorite spot, on top of the Hokage Monument, on the Yondaime's head. He was looking over the village with a smile on his face, looking like the spitting image of his father. He'd gotten a hair cut, but his bangs were still there, framing his face much like the Yondaime's, and he'd dispensed with the bandages. As cool as they were, they were really annoying. His arm was no longer is a cast, thanks to Megami's excellent healing.

"Are you going to keep watching me all day, or are you going to come over and sit down?" he spoke suddenly. Soon enough, he saw someone come into view in the corner of his eye, who say down next to him.

"How long have you known I was here?" Kushina asked, getting a chuckle from Naruto.

"Since you arrived two hours ago. I was wondering how long you'd be standing there."

"I heard you got into quite a fight yesterday," Kushina said after a few moments of silence. Naruto nodded.

"I'd say. I've got bruises that have got bruises."

The two were quiet for a few minutes, neither having anything to say. Then, Naruto spoke up.

"You know, all my life I've wanted a mother," he said, laying down on the rock with his hands behind his head as he stared up at the clouds. "All those cold, dark nights, alone in my apartment, after the incident. I would wake up, screaming my head off, and no one was there to comfort me."

"Naruto..."

"But it was alright," Naruto interrupted, feeling the need to get it off his chest. "I never had any parents growing up, never knew what it was like, so I learned to deal with it. Even if I knew you were alive, I wasn't all too upset, since you left before I even knew who you were... But when you came back, and looked at me like that... It hurt more than anything. More than that incident..."

Kushina looked devastated, tears flowing freely now. "Naruto, I'm so-"

"You don't have to tell me you're sorry. I already know," Naruto said, not even batting an eyelash. "I just need to get this off my chest. It's insane, this storm of emotions in me," he said, chuckling slightly. "I wanna call you my mom and just hug you, but at the same time, I just have this hatred for you that I can't get over..."

Kushina lowered her head, and Naruto smiled.

"But something Kiba said yesterday really got to me," he continued. "Life is fleeting. We might die any day, and I don't want to die hating my own mother. Besides..." Naruto stood up and looked over the village with a grin on his face, then looked down at Kushina. "...I wouldn't be a very good future Hokage if I held grudges like that."

Kushina looked up at Naruto and gaped. It was like Minato was standing there. Naruto looked just like his father. Naruto's grin turned into a smile as he knelt in front of her.

"I want a mother in my life, Kaa-san... I really do."

That was all it took for Kushina to throw herself at him, hugging him tightly, which he returned, the smile still on his face.

–Later–

"You look a little distant."

Hana stared at her date, who had been staring at the wall for the last few minutes. It was a simple date. Neither of them liked the 'romantic' dates, featuring flowers and dancing and whatnot. She was an Inuzuka, after all. She, like all her clansmen, liked things simple, same as Naruto. So, they had just gone out for something to eat, her choice. Luckily, it seemed that BBQ was an inherent trait in the Inuzuka clan.

"Sorry," Naruto said, smiling apologetically. "It's been an emotional day."

"How so?" Hana asked, raising an eyebrow. She'd never in her life thought that she'd ever hear Naruto saying something about emotional.

"I reconciled with my mom today," Naruto said, chuckling slightly. "It's strange, really. I wanna hate her guts for leaving me like she did, but I just don't seem to be able to."

"Isn't it better this way?" Hana asked, making Naruto laugh.

"Oh, it's better alright, but I'm just grumpy because I can't have it my way."

Hana laughed at that as well. Then, she thought of something. "By the way, how did you manage to get Kiba to agree to this?"

"Oh, it was easy," Naruto said, grinning. "I just bought him some BBQ, and then we got into a life-threatening situation."

"I think he'd already agreed to it the moment he heard about it," Hana said with a smile. "He just likes to complain."

–In the Inuzuka compound–

Kiba sneezed... right in his mother's face... Staring at the enraged Tsume, he gulped.

"Oh, shit..."

–Back with Naruto and Hana–

"I suppose," Naruto agreed, nodding. "So, what got you warmed up to agreeing to a date with me?"

"Oh, this and that," Hana said with a shrug. "Your loyalty, your determination, all the things that attract Inuzuka women. And the fact that you're very good-looking is a nice bonus."

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "You're making me blush."

"That's not all I wanna do to you," Hana said with a sultry smirk. Naruto blinked.

"Is that another Inuzuka trait? This forwardness, I mean?"

Hana nodded. "If we see someone who's good mate material, we try as hard as we can to take it."

"An admirable quality," Naruto said with a grin.

"And you?" Hana asked, smiling. "What made you agree to this?"

Naruto looked thoughtful for a while at that, then sighed. "I'll be honest with you," he said sadly. Hana looked at him in confusion. "I'm actually in love with Kiba, and dating you would bring me closer to him."

Hana stared... and stared... and stared... then snorted, followed by laughing, which caused Naruto to crack up as well.

"You're a good liar, Naruto-kun," Hana said, wiping tears of mirth out of her eyes once they'd calmed down. "I actually believed you there for a while."

"What gave me away?" Naruto asked.

"Nothing, except for the fact that you're oozing heterosexuality," Hana said with a shrug. "I bet I couldn't even pay you to kiss a guy. Especially Kiba."

"You're right," Naruto said with a nod. "Getting that close to him could cause the flees to spread."

This caused the two of them to crack up again.

Meanwhile, on the roof of the building opposite the BBQ joint, Kiba was laying on his stomach, sporting a black eye.

"Look at them, laughing away..." he muttered to Shikamaru, who was laying on his right. Next to Shikamaru was Taki. "I bet they're telling jokes about me..."

"What are we doing here, Kiba?" Shikamaru asked with a sigh as he flipped a page in the book he'd brought along. Any spying session brought on by Kiba was bound to be boring, after all. "Shouldn't you be home right now with Akamaru?"

"Shut up!" Kiba hissed. "Don't even mention that place right now! Kaa-san is really pissed off right now. Getting within 80 feet of that place right now would be asking for trouble..."

"They look cute together, don't they?" Taki said with a bright smile on her face. Shikamaru sighed.

"Seriously, though, what are we doing here? Spying on Naruto? He'll know we're here in a second, if he doesn't already."

"It's training, Shika, training!" Kiba said. "This is training on how to hide your presence."

"Oh, I see!" Taki said, grinning. "It's training!"

"Exactly!" Kiba said with a victorious grin.

"Don't let him trick you, Taki-chan," Shikamaru said, snapping his book shut. "He just wants to see what kind of 'horrible' things Naruto will do to his sister."

"Don't even mention that!" Kiba growled. "I'm having enough trouble dealing with this."

"Then, it's just spying?" Taki asked, humming. "Well, spying is part of being a ninja," she supposed with a shrug. "Besides, I wanna see how Nii-san's date goes."

"Hm... They look like they're having fun..."

Taki eeped at the new voice, and Kiba and Shikamaru tensed up. They all looked back to see Kakashi, his book away for once, staring down at his student.

"Why are you spying on Naruto?"

"He's on a date with Hana," Kiba muttered. In a flash, Kakashi had laid down next to him, staring down at the BBQ joint.

"That's my student. She's a very good-looking girl."

"Oi!"

Meanwhile, in the BBQ joint, Naruto smiled at Hana.

"You know that they're watching us, right?"

"How could I not? Kiba hasn't showered today," Hana said, scoffing. "He stinks."

"Well, stealth was never his area of expertise," Naruto said as he activated his eye, which caused Hana to jump, since it was uncovered. At first, she'd only seen a shiny metal surface where his eye was supposed to be, and in a second, a bright green eye was staring at her. The eye swirled, then locked itself in place staring out the window, up at the roof on the other side of the street.

"Kiba, Shikamaru, Taki and Kakashi-sensei are watching us," he said, then corrected himself. "Well, Shikamaru is reading a book."

"Watching us, huh?" Hana asked, a smirk appearing on her face. "Then how about we give them something to watch?"

Naruto was about to ask what, but Hana suddenly reached across the table and grabbed his collar, pulling him towards her and meeting him midway, smashing her lips against his.

On the rooftop, Kiba was about to jump off and beat Naruto up, but quick reflexes from Kakashi help him grab the back of Kiba's coat, keeping him in place.

"Stay, Kiba," Kakashi ordered gently, then smiled as he looked down at Naruto, tears of joy streaming from his visible eye. 'My student... I'm so proud!'

"Aw..." Taki sighed happily. Then, the kiss started intensifying, and she blushed heavily, letting out a quiet "Eep!" before burying her face in her hands.

–The next day–

In the dark cave, the projections of the Akatsuki members appeared again.

"_Deidara?"_ the leader asked.

"_Sasori is dead, un. Orochimaru probably killed him."_

"_Orochimaru is beginning to be a pain,"_ Kisame said, chuckling.

"_Orochimaru is dead as well,"_ a plant-like man spoke up. _**"Uchiha Sasuke killed him,"**_ he spoke in a darker voice.

"_Itachi's little brother?"_ Deidara asked. _"Never would've expected that, un. Are you certain, Zetsu?"_

"_Positive."_

"_And his ring?"_ the leader asked. Zetsu sighed. Then, the darker voice spoke.

"_**We couldn't find it."**_

"_What now?"_

"_My preparations have been made,"_ the leader said calmly. _"It is time for me to go to Konoha, to capture the Kyuubi."_

"_Don't underestimate Naruto, leader,"_ Itachi spoke up for the first time in a while. _"It may cost you."_

"_Pein never loses,"_ the only woman in Akatsuki spoke. _"How dare you even suggest-"_

"_Enough, Konan,"_ Pein interrupted. _"I have never lost a battle yet. You are dismissed."_

The projections disappeared, and Itachi, sitting on a rock with his back against Kisame, opened his eyes.

"Some time has to be the first," he whispered so that Kisame couldn't hear him.

–Konoha–

"Hm?" Naruto blinked as he looked out through the window as he sat on the couch in the living room of his apartment. Taki, who was sitting in the chair next to the table in front of the couch, looked at him in confusion.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Naruto said, shaking his head. "I just had this strange feeling of foreboding."

Taki nodded and went back to reading her scroll, while Naruto went back to reading his own. After a few minutes of reading, Naruto glanced up at Taki, to see that, even though she looked like she was reading, her eyes weren't moving. Expecting the outburst, he effortlessly caught the scroll as it flew through the air, courtesy of Taki.

"Aaaw! I can't understand this!" Taki exclaimed in a rage. Naruto chuckled as he looked down at the scroll.

"Elemental chakra theory?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "What can't you understand?"

"Any of it!" Taki growled out, looking ready to tear out her hair in frustration. Naruto smiled and gave back the scroll.

"It's pretty complicated, but you'll get it," he said calmly, then looked down at his own scroll, containing Minato's personal notes on space/time theory, which was waay more complicated than Elemental chakra theory. He only managed to read for a few minutes, before he could feel Taki staring at him.

"Nii-chan!" she whined. "Help me!"

Naruto sighed, then nodded. "Alright then. I'll try to dumb it down a little for you."

"Thank you," Taki said with a smile, suddenly sitting at attention and listening intently.

"So, listen, there are five types of elemental chakra, as you probably know," Naruto explained. "Fire, Wind, Water, Lightning, and Earth. These elements form the basis for pretty much all Ninjutsu."

"Cool," Taki said with a grin, getting a chuckle from Naruto at her enthusiasm.

"Generally, everyone has chakra that fits one of those categories. For example, I have Wind as my primary element, with Fire coming close second. Each element also has a weakness, forming a circle of life and death for each element."

Taki blinked. "Huh?"

"Each element has a strength and a weakness," Naruto explained. "Fire-based jutsu have an advantage over Wind-based jutsu, but it's weak against Water-based." Seeing that Taki needed further explaining, he sighed and dove into a pile of scrolls next to the couch, digging out an empty one an unrolling it on the table. He grabbed a brush and dipped it in ink, before drawing the kanji for the elements on the scroll, Fire at the top, then going clockwise with Wind, Lightning, Earth and Water, then drew arrows from Fire to Wind, Wind to Lightning, Lightning to Earth, Earth to Water, and Water to Fire.

"Dumbing it down a little more, Fire beats Wind, Wind beats Lightning, Lightning beats Earth, Earth beats Water, and Water beats Fire, a..."

"Circle of life and death," Taki finished, nodding in understanding. "I get it now."

"And because of the elemental weaknesses and strengths, while one element can defeat another, it can also serve to strengthen yet another. As in, Wind can defeat lighting and nullify it, but if faced against a Fire-based attack, it will only serve to strengthen it."

"But you have Fire and Wind," Taki said, humming. "Doesn't that mean that you can use Wind to power up your Fire attacks?"

"Excellent," Naruto said with a nod of approval. Taki beamed. "Yes, using an element's strength to power it will nullify its weakness. If, for instance, I use a Goukakyuu no Jutsu against a Suijin Heki, it will be stopped by the Water-based jutsu. But if I strengthen the Fire using Wind, it will smash through the Water."

"Says you," came a voice from the window. The two looked to see Kushina sitting on the windowsill, smiling at them. "Nothing can smash through my water."

"Wanna bet?" Naruto asked with a smirk as he picked up his scroll again, getting back to reading it.

"But it's a real surprise, though," Kushina said as she got off the windowsill and walked over, sitting down next to Naruto on the couch. "Minato was primarily Lightning-natured, and I, along with everyone in the Uzumaki clan, am Water-natured. So it's strange that you'd get Fire and Wind."

"Well, I'm not exactly the most ordinary ninja in the world," Naruto said with a grin. "I'm known to be very unexpected."

"Nii-san, what are you reading?" Taki asked.

"Space/time theory," Naruto answered, making Kushina go wide-eyed, while Taki just looked confused. "You-san managed to master this stuff by the time he was twenty."

"So?" Kushina asked, which made Naruto grin again.

"So, I'm going to beat him, and set the bar higher for my own son, if I ever have one."

It was... weird, in all honesty. After that tearful moment on the Hokage Monument, Naruto and Kushina had really hit it off, and Naruto learned that he'd inherited many things from his mother, including her cooking skills. Kushina, her family being very skilled in that area, had also taken up teaching Naruto sealing, which he was excellent at.

–One week later–

Everything was eerily peaceful in Konoha. Like the calm before the storm. Everyone seemed to be smiling that day, happy with life. However, all good things must come to an end, and the end came with a huge explosion that took out half the market district.

Pein had arrived in the village. However, he wasn't alone. He had five other Akatsuki members with him, all of them with the same orange hair as him.

Explosions went off everywhere as Pein caused random destruction, searching for Naruto. Unfortunately, though, Naruto was out on a mission.

Coincidentally, a few miles away from Konoha, Naruto was heading back home from his A-rank mission to protect an old friend of his, Toki, the ruler of Bird Country, as she headed back from River Country through Rain, which had always been considered a dangerous place.

He was blissfully unaware of the situation in Konoha. Then, however, he saw smoke rising from the distance, and his eyes widened. With that, he dashed off.

Meanwhile, in Konoha, Pein was on the roof of the Hokage Tower, staring at Tsunade, who stared right back, surrounded by ANBU.

"I've wanted to talk to you," Pein said calmly. Tsunade's eyes widened in recognition.

"You're... that kid..."

"Looks like you remember me."

"Do you know him?" one of the ANBU asked Tsunade, who nodded.

"A little."

"Who is he?"

"The god who will restore order," Pein answered for Tsunade.

"He's no ordinary ninja, that's for sure," the ANBU said.

"Where is Uzumaki Naruto? Where is the Kyuubi?" Pein asked, ignoring the ANBU.

"Who knows?" Tsunade asked with a shrug.

"I have captured half the hosts," Pein said. "The ninja villages have lost the equilibrium of the Bijuu. It's no use hiding the Kyuubi. The fighting will start soon. The embers of war are already smoldering. And we will control the war. If you cooperate, I'll be willing to help you. You must be aware of the situation... of our power."

"Don't underestimate the Godaime Hokage!" Tsunade growled. "You're just a bunch of terrorists trying to destroy the stability our forefathers worked for! Whatever you say is meaningless!"

Pein was quiet for a while, his eyes closed. Then, he opened them again. His expression hadn't changed, but Tsunade could feel his glare.

"Don't be so haughty. Your peace results in violence towards us."

"I'm not saying everything Konoha has done has been right! But I won't accept your way of doing things!" Tsunade proclaimed adamantly.

"Watch what you say," Pein said calmly. "This is your last warning from God. Tell me where Naruto is."

"We will use everything we have to fight you!" Tsunade said, glaring heatedly at Pein, pissed off at his arrogance. "That is all! And you're wrong about one thing. You'll never get what you want most!"

"If you think Konoha's ninja can protect Naruto forever-"

"That's not it," Tsunade interrupted, smiling defiantly at Pein. "Naruto is strong."

Pein looked ready to respond, but suddenly closed his eyes. Then, he opened them again.

"Looks like Naruto isn't here. River Country... There's no reason to hang around here anymore." With that, he turned his back on them.

"Tsunade-sama," the female ANBU at Tsunade's right whispered. "We should let him go, and use that time to strengthen our protection of the village."

"And one last thing," Pein said, his back still turned. "The chakra in your feet... is that to guard against my technique? I guess you know all about my powers... Everything is meaningless in the face of overwhelming power. You great nations have proven that. You think you're the only ones who matter. You think you can put off death. But peace has made you foolish and thoughtless. If you kill someone, someone else will kill you. Hatred binds you together."

"Enough of your nonsense!" Tsunade said finally, fed up with Pein and his talk. "War... brings pain, injury and death to both sides."

"The great nations have suffered too! I've had enough of your accusations!"

Pein actually scoffed.

"Don't make me laugh... I want you to feel pain, to think about pain, to accept pain, to know pain..." Pein said as his knees bent, preparing to jump. "Those who don't know pain can never know true peace." With that, he jumped high, higher than a normal shinobi could jump.

At that moment, every Pein in Konoha disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Everyone looked up at the dot in the sky, and could feel the chakra in the air as he seemed to charge up for a massive jutsu. The sky shimmered slightly as a massive pressure wave was sent straight down toward the center of Konoha. However, before it could hit anything, a black barrier appeared above the rooftops, protecting Konoha and swallowing up the pressure wave, before closing itself like a zipper being pulled up. At the same time, a loud explosion was heard to the west, and the villagers could see a huge mushroom cloud of dust rising in the distance. The shockwave from the crash was felt all the way to Konoha, powerful enough to blow several people off their feet.

Tsunade, on the roof of the Hokage Tower, looked up in shock, along with the ANBU.

"That was the Yondaime's..." the female ANBU whispered. Feeling a massive amount of killing intent, they all looked up at the Hokage Monument, where they could clearly see a figure standing on one of the spikes in the Yondaime's hair, his orange coat flapping in the wind.

"Naruto?" Tsunade asked.

Naruto, standing on the Yondaime's head, took out two three-pronged kunai, hurling one to the west as hard as he could, while throwing the other at the still airborne Pein.

Pein, unable to dodge in the air, had to settle for catching the kunai.

All the villagers saw were two flashes of yellow, then Naruto and Pein were gone.

Naruto appeared in the air somewhere over the crater that had been made by Pein's attack, having a firm hold on Pein as they fell toward the ground. Naruto flipped them so they were falling headfirst toward the ground, and started spinning.

"Omote Renge!"

Pein, however, managed to break out of Naruto's grip, kicking him in the chest and pushing away from him. They both landed a good distance away from each other, on their feet.

"This saves me the trouble of looking for you," Pein said as he straightened up. Naruto gave him a steely gaze.

"It's over for you," he said. However, his eyes widened in surprise as he looked up, and saw another person, different in appearance, but wearing the same clothes and having the same hair color and eyes as Pein, come flying through the air. The person in the air went through a set of handseals, and in a poof of smoke, four more people appeared, all having the same hair color, same eyes, and covered in black piercings, just like the man in front of Naruto.

"The hell?" Naruto asked, blinking.

"Come with me peacefully, Kyuubi," the spiky-haired man said calmly. "There is no need for a fight."

"The name is Naruto. Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, future Hokage of Konoha," Naruto said, his arms crossed. "Remember the name."

"Pein," the six Akatsuki said in creepy unison.

They took up formation, the one with his hair tied back in a long ponytail with a fringe hanging down from the right side of its head standing in front of the spiky haired Pein, with a fat Pein to her left, and a long-haired Pein to her right. A burly Pein with spiky hair stood behind the slimmer spiky-haired one, and a really creepy one, a tall, bald man with an unusual body shape, possessing a very thick neck, no ears and a large jaw, stood in front of the ponytailed one.

Naruto took in the formation and pondered.

'The one with the ponytail used a summoning jutsu... It'd be bad if he started summoning here... The dog pack may be good trackers, but they won't do much good against a boss summon... He has to go first... And half my chakra went to that space/time barrier... Alright, let's do this,' he thought as he took out a kunai. Then, he flashed away. Before the Peins had even processed that he'd disappeared, the spiky-haired Pein had already got a kunai rammed into his chest, and Naruto, who'd appeared right in front of him, dashed toward the ponytail, charging up a Ranran Dageki. He punched his hand through the ponytail and kept running, aiming to take the bald one as well. However, that plan went to hell when a wicked-looking saw blade came out of the back of the bald ones cloak like a tail, piercing through the ponytail and about to pierce Naruto, who pulled his hand out and dodged just in time. However, he dodged in the direction of the long-haired Pein, who threw a punch at him, faster than even one of Gai's punches. Naruto twisted his body and caught the incoming fist with his left hand, guessing, correctly, that the punch was hard enough to break his bones.

In a poof of smoke, three clones appeared behind Naruto, one of them rushing toward the bald Pein, the other rushing toward the spiky-haired Pein, who'd just ripped the kunai out of his chest, while the last rushed the one in the back.

With them occupied, Naruto engaged in a Taijutsu fight with the long-haired Pein, who was higher than Gai's level in strength and speed, giving Naruto a really hard time. He dodged and dodged and dodged, and wasn't given enough time to counter-attack. Abandoning Taijutsu, Naruto growled and took out another three-pronged kunai, going through a chain of lightning fast seals with the kunai in hand, then holding them up in a blocking motion toward Pein, who just threw a punch at him. Pein didn't have time to stop when he realized his mistake, and a small barrier, like the one that covered Konoha, only much smaller, materialized in front of Pein's hand, swallowing up his arm all the way up to the elbow, then zipping itself up.

Grunting in discomfort, Pein jumped away, holding his now bleeding stump, while the arm popped into existence some distance away.

Taking advantage of Pein's distraction, Naruto spun, his arm cannon popping up, and took aim at the bald Pein, who looked to be the biggest threat. His arms seemed to be able to fire like rockets, and the tail was a major bother, striking at his clone like a scorpion, while the clone did its best to dodge. Charging up wind chakra in his cannon, he summoned a clone to his side at the same time. The clone brought his hands to Naruto's right palm, pumping wind chakra into the Rasengan that had formed in it. At the same time as Naruto fired at the bald Pein, the Rasen Shuriken was fully formed, and Naruto followed through with the spin, actually hurling the Rasen Shuriken at the long-haired Pein.

'The spike man seems to be the alpha of the Peins, so I'll have to take out the others before I deal with him,' Naruto thought as he rushed toward the burly Pein in the back, vaulting over the spiky-haired one that had been engaged in a Taijutsu battle with his clone, who made sure to dodge instead of block, to avoid being dispelled.

A crash was heard behind him, followed by the telltale sign of the Rasen Shuriken connecting with its target, kicking up another tornado of wind. That was three Peins down, three to go. Strangely enough, neither the fat one nor the spiky-haired one had shown any of their abilities yet, but the burly man was in the back, so he was obviously some kind of support. While the burly Pein was occupied by the clone, he didn't see Naruto come charging up behind him, a Rasengan in each hand. The clone, seeing Naruto approach, suddenly grabbed a hold of Pein, and held him in place as Naruto smashed the two Rasengan into his back.

"Rasengan!" Naruto called as Pein was sent flying by the blast, dispelling the clone.

The clone that had been fighting the bald Pein now turned to the fat one, charging up a Rasengan in his hand and charging him. For some reason, the Pein didn't seem to be interested in dodging, and just smirked at Naruto. Naruto, deciding to do this to see what kinds of tricks he had up his sleeve, ignored the warning signs, and smashed the Rasengan into him.

The Rasengan seemed to hit a chakra barrier around Pein, and was nullified, the chakra turning into pure energy and getting sucked into Pein's mouth. Naruto, shocked, didn't have time to react as Pein grabbed him, and he felt his chakra being drained. He struggled, but kept getting weaker and weaker, until he finally dispelled.

The clone with the spiky-haired Pein growled as he threw a punch at Pein, but Pein seemed to be relieve about something, and a look of focus appeared on his face. What happened next shocked Naruto to his core. A pulse of energy was blasted out of Pein, reaching all the way to the original Naruto, who was still standing where the burly Pein had been. It sent Naruto and the clone flying, dispelling the clone in the process.

Landing hard on the ground, too surprised to land on his feet, Naruto grunted as he felt one of his ribs crack from the force of the throw. He looked up to see Pein looking down at his hand, flexing it.

"My powers have returned," he said calmly, then looked to Naruto, who got up, growling.

'Damn it... So, we have one guy who can absorb chakra, and drain people of chakra... and another one who can send me flying with a mere thought... This could be bad,' he thought as he took out a three-pronged kunai, stabbing it into the ground. 'The fatty is a pain... But so is the other... One of them has to go first... The fat one will protect the other, and the other will protect the fat one... Damn it...'

Pein raised his hand, and Naruto pumped chakra into his feet to protect himself from being sent flying again, but his eyes widened when he felt a pull in his chest, and was sent flying towards Pein, instead of away from him. As he flew through the air, he saw the fatty getting in front of the other one, ready to catch Naruto and drain him of his chakra. Naruto charged up another Rasengan, and slammed it into the chakra barrier of the fatty, which distracted him long enough for Naruto to use Hiraishin to flash away to the spot where he stabbed the kunai into the ground, letting out a sigh of relief.

'That was a close one... Damn it... I had to go play the hero, trying to take this guy on without backup...' Pein raised his hand again, and Naruto found himself wondering why. 'Why is he taking so long? He should've just pulled me to him immediately after I flashed away... Interesting. Alright, time to test this!'

Naruto put his hands in a cross seal, and three Kage Bunshin appeared in front of him. They charged at the two Pein, one of them aiming for the fat one, while the others moved around him, and headed for the spiky-haired one. Ignoring the original for now, Pein raised his hands to his sides, and blasted the two clones away with another push. His eyes widened a fraction, however, when another Naruto burst from the ground behind him, charging at him with a kunai, ready to stab him in the back. Proving Naruto's theory right, Pein didn't blast him away, and instead dodged, realizing his mistake a split second too late, as he saw Naruto run straight past him, and stab the kunai into the fat one's back. Not quite reaching his heart, Naruto spun, and kicked the kunai, using enough force to send the kunai tearing straight through the fat one, through the clone in front of him, and straight at the original Naruto, who caught it by the ring, watching as the clones, along with the now useless fat Pein, were blasted away.

'So... he has to recharge every time he uses it,' Naruto thought, a grin appearing on his face. 'I can win this!'

With that, Naruto charged up another Rasengan in his hand, feeling his chakra nearing its depletion, judging by how sluggishly his arm moved. He flashed away, appearing right in front of Pein, who, predictably, blasted him away. However, the Hiraishin seal was on him, having been placed there when Naruto flashed them to the crater. So, Naruto, flying through the air, flashed right back to Pein, smashing the Rasengan into the wide-eyed Pein's chest. For the first time, Pein raised his voice, letting out a cry of pain as he was sent flying away by the jutsu, smashing into the hill of the crater with a crunch, then rolling all the way back to Naruto.

Panting, Naruto slowly made his way over to the body, kneeling in front of him. He held a kunai to his throat as he nudged him, getting no response. Next, he took his pulse to find out that he was, in fact, dead. Grabbing one of the strange piercings in Pein's nose, he pulled it out and stared at the black rod. He felt something was strange about it, but he couldn't sense anything. Willing to risk a little chakra, he activated his eye. He went wide-eyed when he saw chakra coursing through it.

It was a chakra receiver, and there was a faint string of chakra going through the air, like that of a puppet user, only much more advanced, and a lot harder to notice.

So... this body was just a puppet... Slowly getting to his feet, Naruto deactivated his eye and walked in the direction the chakra string had been leading.

After a long, grueling walk through the forest and up a small mountain, which caused Naruto's legs to ache with every step, Naruto reached a huge tree that looked ordinary from a distance, but close up, he could easily see that it was fake, made of brown paper. Slowly extending his claws, he raised his hand and sliced part of it to ribbons, so that he could walk inside.

What he found inside was disturbing. A blue-haired woman in Akatsuki robes was standing next to a very strange man. He was a fair-skinned man with chin-length red hair, with his most noticeable trait being his strange eyes. He was a withered version of a once tall and athletically fit man, with chakra receivers implanted into his back, one in each of his shoulder joints and smaller ones in his forearms. He also seemed a mechanical walker for mobility.

The woman gasped at seeing him, but Naruto just raised his cannon, firing a blast of fire chakra that caught her by surprise, blowing her head clean off her shoulders.

The man in the walker seemed to respond badly to the woman's death, but he seemed too weak to do anything, coughing up blood at that exact moment.

"Pein, I presume?" Naruto asked as he limped up to the man.

"Uzumaki... Naruto..." the man hissed at him, which was followed by another coughing fit. Naruto glared at him, his claws still out.

"The name is Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, son of the Yellow Flash and the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero, and future Hokage of Konoha. Remember my name in the next life."

Pein glared at him, and Naruto's eyes widened as he reacted just in time to dodge a chakra receiver that was fired from the walked, and he dashed forward, his claws tearing through Pein's throat, spraying blood through the air.

Pein's eyes widened in shock, and he let out a gurgling noise, trying desperately to breathe in the life-giving air, but to no avail. Naruto stared with a distant look at the man as his life slowly drained from him.

"Rinnegan..." he whispered as he stared at the mans still open eyes. "The eyes that were said to have been just a myth... The world is better off if it stays that way."

Slowly, feeling the ache in his arms, Naruto reached up, grabbing a hold of the mans head. Then, he pushed his thumbs into his eye sockets, crushing the most powerful doujutsu to have ever existed.

His job done, making sure no one, not even his own village, could get a hold of the eyes, he turned and left the paper tree, which crumbled as soon as he left.

As he made another grueling walk through the forest, his legs gave out on him, and he collapsed to the ground, too weak to even try to avoid smashing his face into the forest floor.

Faintly, he heard barking in the distance, which came closer and closer.

"..ruto! Naruto!"

With half-lidded eyes, Naruto looked up at the blurry character standing above him. The person knelt and looked at him with worried eyes, coming into focus. Naruto smiled.

"Kiba..." he mumbled. "I did it..."

"You did good, Naruto," came Kakashi's voice, standing next to Kiba. "Kiba, get him a soldier pill."

Naruto felt the bitter-tasting pill get forced into his mouth, and he happily swallowed it, eager to get some energy back. He felt himself get lifted up and placed on something soft... Akamaru... His heartbeat was very soothing, and Naruto felt his eyes drifting shut.

He was rudely awoken, however, by loud cheering. He didn't know how long he'd been asleep, but they were at the gates of Konoha, and some of his energy had been replenished. Forcing himself to sit up on Akamaru's back, Naruto gaped at what he saw. It seemed that every person in the village, civilian and ninja, had gathered at the gate. They were cheering for him.

"Welcome back!"  
"We believed in you!"  
"Thank you!"  
"Welcome home!"  
"Marry me!"

Naruto blinked at the last one he picked up, since the woman who said it looked to be in her 60's, something that severely disturbed the poor, 16-year old Naruto.

"They've all been waiting for your return," Kakashi explained with a smile as Naruto got off Akamaru, his eyes wide with shock. The crowd started running at him, mostly children, though, crowding around him closely, smiling up at him.

"What was he like?"  
"Are you hurt?"

Naruto was pushed and pulled by the excited kids, and he found himself wincing at the contact. He felt what little energy he had left drain from him, and he collapsed to the ground, much to the shock of the kids around him.

"Ah! Naruto-sama!"

"I didn't mean to push, I'm sorry!"

–Unknown amount of time later–

Naruto groaned, the familiar sterilized air of the hospital invading his nostrils.

"You're awake," came the all too familiar drawl of Shikamaru. Naruto forced his eyes open and looked to his right, finding Shikamaru sitting by the bed, a table in between his chair and the bed, with a shogi board on it. "I've been waiting."

"Shikamaru," Naruto said with a smile. "I'm glad to see you're okay."

Shikamaru nodded.

"Where are the others?"

"Kiba left about three hours ago to get some sleep. Kakashi-sensei and Hana as well. We've been here for three days now. People have been coming in all the time to see if you've been awake, or to deliver a get well card," Shikamaru said, gesturing for the other side of Naruto's bed. Naruto looked to his bedside table, to find it packed with cards, so many that, even when stacked, the pile was thicker than four Icha Icha Tactics put together. There were five piles.

"I feel like hammered shit," Naruto muttered, reaching over and moving a pawn on the shogi board without looking.

"You should. You suffered severe chakra exhaustion, five broken ribs, a shattered wrist, ruptured spleen and a broken ankle, along with a massive amount of bruising. I think some of the bruising on your bruises' bruises have gone down, though..." Shikamaru said as he moved his own pawn.

"That bad?" Naruto asked in surprise. "I just expected chakra exhaustion and a broken rib..."

"Taki nearly had a mental breakdown when she saw you. She thought you were dead, and it was only thanks to Kiba that she lightened up."

"What did he do?"

"He just said that you wouldn't die until you made Hokage. Even if someone cut off your head, you would just replace your body with metal and keep going out of sheer determination."

Naruto chuckled. "Chiyo-baa-sama would have a field day if that happened."

"Kushina-san didn't appreciate the joke, though," Shikamaru said with a chuckle. "She beat him up, then took him to the Inuzuka compound and told Tsume, who picked up where she left off."

Shikamaru and Naruto played their shogi game in silence for a while. Then, Naruto touched the King and smiled.

"I protected the King, just like Tou-san..."

–End–

**Love it? Hate it? You know what to do! You may think that the fight with Pein was too quick, but I did it to demonstrate the power Naruto now held, though also to show that he's still human, and not invincible.**

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	10. Chapter 10

**Huzzah! I give you another chapter of I spy!**

–Begin–

"Huh?" Naruto, sitting in Ichiraku Ramen with his team, looked back at the ANBU who was staring at him. "A meeting?"

"Yes, Namikaze-san," the ANBU said, nodding. "You are to report to the council room immediately." With that, the ANBU vanished. Naruto could guess what it was about. Akatsuki had managed to infiltrate Konoha and caused havok, and Tsunade was in a coma from overexerting herself. No doubt, they wanted to appoint a new Hokage as soon as possible, so as to not appear weak to the other countries.

"Well, I'll see you guys later. Could you guys go guard Tsunade? I don't trust Danzo not to take advantage of this situation," Naruto told his teammates and sensei, all of whom nodded at him. He put his hands in a Ram seal and disappeared with a poof. Only when he was gone did Kiba realize something.

"That bastard! He left without paying!"

–Council room–

Naruto was sitting in a rather large stone chair on one side of a large table, next to the commander of the ANBU. Next to him was Sarutobi Hiruzen, followed by the old warhawk Danzo, then Koharu and Homura. On the other side of the table were six civilian members of the council, and at the head of the table sat his uncle on his father side, the Fire Daimyo.

Naruto had no idea why a rookie Jounin was selected to represent the jounin populace at this meeting, but he didn't say no, eager to see just how these meetings went down.

"We plan to continue working with the other countries against the threat posed by Akatsuki," Homura said, starting the meeting.

"After what happened in the village, we will need to strengthen the barrier. We will tweak the budget to train seal and barrier masters. We would also like for Namikaze-san to take an apprentice, and pass on his knowledge in seals."

"I already have one in mind," Naruto spoke up, getting surprised looks from the people around the table. "It's still a little too early, but I'm planning on asking Sarutobi Konohamaru to be my apprentice."

Hiruzen, staring at Naruto, smiled brightly at hearing that Naruto wanted to take his grandson as his apprentice.

"There's something else we should consider first," Danzo spoke up, and everyone, save for the Fire Daimyo, already knew what he was planning to say. "Who will be the next Hokage?"

"Can we not wait until Tsunade has recovered?" the Daimyo asked.

"My lord, Tsunade is still in a coma," Koharu explained. "We can't decide on a plan for the village when we don't know when she will wake up... Besides, she is partially responsible for what happened in Konoha."

Naruto suppressed a growl at that, and it was only thanks to the slight shake of the head from the ANBU that he kept from speaking up.

"I'd like to choose Jiraiya," the Daimyo said. "I like him."

"Even if you nailed him to the chair, you couldn't get Jiraiya to be Hokage," Hiruzen said, to which Naruto snickered.

"So, who shall it be, then?" the Fire Daimyo asked.

"Well-" Danzo started, but Hiruzen cut him off.

"I nominate Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto."

The civilians gasped at that, all of them thinking that Naruto was much too young for the position of Hokage.

"Hatake Kakashi," Naruto spoke up.

"Oho, the son of the Shiroi Kiba (White Fang), and my nephew, eh?" the Daimyo asked with a chuckle. Then, he looked to the civilians. "What do you all think?"

The civilians started whispering amongst themselves. Naruto picked up comments such as, "well-known, powerful and respected," and, "too young."

"Minato wasn't much older," he heard the civilian across from him say. They all nodded at each other, then looked to the Fire Daimyo.

"Namikaze," they all said in unison, making Naruto's eyes widen. He started to feel faint at that.

"Who is his teacher?" the civilian across from Homura asked.

"Hatake Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Sarutobi Hiruzen," Naruto explained.

"The son of the Yondaime, who taught Kakashi, and pupil of Jiraiya, who was the Yondaime's teacher, and pupil of the Sandaime, who was Jiraiya's teacher. There's no problem then," the Fire Daimyo said, smiling at Naruto, who was now breathing quickly, though quickly disguising it, so as to not act too giddily.

"The Sandaime's teachings have as good as destroyed the village!" Danzo spoke up, making everyone's eyes widen.

"Danzo," Hiruzen spoke, but got no further, as Danzo continued.

"Akatsuki's leader, the man who almost destroyed the village, was once Jiraiya's pupil. This is the result of sympathizing with other countries and giving them power! That sort of thinking is weak! That weakness led to Suna's betrayal... and allowed Orochimaru's plan to destroy Konoha. It led to the formation of Akatsuki, and to Sasuke, the last remaining Uchiha, leaving Konoha for his own secret purposes!" he spoke imperiously as he stood up. "What sort of Hokage do we need now? One who can put an end to this wretched situation, who can bring change to the ninja world and reinforce the laws that govern us. That man is me!"

"The Sandaime's teachings are what have kept Konoha from being ravaged by wars for nearly two decades!" Naruto spoke up finally, standing up as well. "Your approach of crush this, crush that, and then when all is destroyed, have tea, doesn't work! You will bring Konoha to ruin by making enemies out of everyone and everything! The Shodai and Nidaime didn't see fit to entrust the Will of Fire to you for a reason, no doubt." Danzo growled at that, while Naruto just looked over the others. "Who are we to spit on the legacy of our founders? For Kami's sake, the Sandaime has been acting Hokage for over three decades, and was even reelected after the Yondaime died. That just means that his teachings work, doesn't it?"

"The man makes a good point," one of the civilians told the Fire Daimyo, who closed his eyes, thinking.

"My lord, you can't-" Danzo started, but was interrupted.

"All right, it's decided," the Daimyo said. "Naruto, you will be the Rokudaime Hokage!"

Naruto stared at the Daimyo for a moment, then cleared his throat. "Would my whooping with joy and doing cartwheels affect your decision?"

Sarutobi chuckled, while the Fire Daimyo shook his head.

"Go ahead. Minato did the same."

Naruto whooped with glee and, as he said, started doing cartwheels around the room, much to the amusement of most, disapproval from Homura and Koharu, and rage from Danzo.

–Later–

Humming happily, Naruto strolled through the hospital. He couldn't help it. He was giddy as hell, proudly wearing the Hokage hat that had been given to him. Rokudaime Hokage, Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto. That had a damn nice ring to it! He was currently on his way to Tsunade's room, to tell his team the good news.

When he got to the room, however, he heard a woman's voice coming from inside.

"She's unconscious?"

"I'll take the letter. I'm her aide," came Shizune's voice.

"If you don't know when she'll wake up, let me speak to whoever's in charge in the meantime," the unknown woman said. Activating his eye and looking through the door, he saw eight people inside; Kakashi, Kiba and Shikamaru were standing guard at Tsunade's bed, while Shizune talked to the unknown woman. "I need an answer right away! It's urgent."

"But-"

Naruto took this opportunity to open the door, looking over the occupants of the room.

"Tsunade-baa-chan is no longer Hokage," he said wiggling his hat. "I am the new Hokage. I'll take the letter."

The woman walked over to him, and judging by the headbands on the two by the door, they were Kumo ninjas. She handed over the letter to Naruto, who opened it and read it. It was a request from the Raikage to allow Kumo to hunt down and kill Uchiha Sasuke.

"Sasuke, huh?" Naruto asked, humming. The Sharingan was a powerful doujutsu, and it was foolish to risk it ending up in Kumo's hands...

"What is your answer?"

"There are, of course, conditions to my consent," Naruto said, getting a raised eyebrow from the woman. "The Sharingan. The Sharingan is Konoha's, and will stay Konoha's, being delivered to us as soon as Sasuke is dead. So long as the Raikage meets that condition, I see no problem with this."

The woman nodded. "I will let him know." Next, she nodded to her two teammates, and together they left the room.

"Hokage?" Kiba asked finally, staring at Naruto in shock. "Seriously?"

"Well, not officially, yet. The Fire Daimyo and the civilians support the decision, but the jounins haven't voted yet," Naruto said, grinning, then clapped his hands together. "Anyway, a meeting of the five Kages has been called, and I need two mandatory 'bodyguards.' Who's up for it?"

"A meeting?" Kakashi asked. "Where?"

"The only neutral place there is here in the Elemental Countries," Naruto said. "Iron Country."

"And you want us to be bodyguards?" Kiba asked, getting a nod from Naruto.

"You and Shikamaru."

"Tch, why me, and not Kakashi?" Shikamaru asked, gesturing for Kakashi, only to find that he'd disappeared. "Aw, damn it..."

Just then, an ANBU blurred into view on her knees behind Naruto.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Yuugao, I have a mission for you," Naruto said as he turned to look at the ANBU, reaching into his kunai pouch and taking out a scroll, which he handed to her. "I need you to track down Mitarashi Anko, who is currently tracking Yakushi Kabuto. When you meet with her, you will both track down Kabuto, but do not engage him. You will tell him you are there under my orders, codeword 'Homecoming.'"

Yuugao took the scroll, wordlessly nodded, then blurred away again.

"Time to bring our spy home?" Kiba asked, getting a nod from Naruto.

"According to him, Orochimaru is dead. No need for us to keep him away," he said with a shrug, then clapped his hands. "Alright, both of you get ready. We leave as soon as possible. Shizune," said woman jumped at being addressed, having felt a little forgotten, "I have stationed ANBU guards around this room. I don't trust Danzo not to do anything. But even with the guards, I want you to stay with Tsunade as much as you can."

"Of course, Naruto-kun," Shizune said, nodding, but then corrected herself. "I mean, Hokage-sama," she said with a smile. Naruto couldn't help but grin at that.

Team Kakashi left Tsunade's room, and went their separate ways once outside, Kiba agreeing to tell his sister that Naruto was going away. Once he was certain that Kiba and Shikamaru were gone, he spoke out loud.

"You can come down now, sensei."

From the roof of the hospital, Kakashi came falling down, landing in front of Naruto, looking at him with interest.

"I got the feeling you wanted to talk to me about something."

"It's about Danzo," Naruto said, making Kakashi's eye widen. "He's too dangerous, and Kabuto has information on dealings between Danzo and Orochimaru. I want you to take a handful of trustworthy jounins, skilled in stealth, and keep a close eye on him until Kabuto comes back, so that he can testify, and everything will be official. I'm counting on you while I'm gone."

Kakashi, completely serious, judging by the fact that he didn't have his book out, nodded. "You can count on me."

With that, he poofed away.

–The next day–

Kiba sneezed as Team Kakashi walked through knee-high snow, approaching the building between the three mountains known as the 'Three Wolves.'

"Hey, how come I've never heard about this place before?" Kiba asked as he wiped his nose. "And who are those guys?" he asked, gesturing for the strange people around them, dressed in white armor, white helmets and rebreathers. Each of them had four swords strapped to their person.

"Because ninjas have an unspoken rule that the neutral Iron Country is off limits. They don't have ninja here. They have samurai," Shikamaru explained, to which Naruto nodded as they stepped into the building, entering a large, cavernous hall, which was dimly lit. Meeting them was a man in his late 40's, with bandages wrapped around his head, with a long mustache and beard in a braid.

"Greetings, Hokage. We've been waiting for you," the man said, bowing his head. "I am the leader of Iron Country. My name is Mifune."

"Thank you for having me, Mifune-dono," Naruto said, bowing his head as well. "I have always wanted to see Iron Country. Even after this short a time, it's been an experience."

Mifune smiled. "Then, if you would follow me, I will take you to the meeting. The others are waiting."

Naruto and his 'bodyguards' followed Mifune through a set of large doors, proceeding down a long hallway to another set of doors. At the doors, however, to the side, was a set of stairs. Mifune stopped and gestured for it.

"Hokage-dono, your escort will need to go upstairs to watch the proceedings."

Naruto nodded to Kiba and Shikamaru, who nodded back, before heading up the stairs. Once they're disappeared, Naruto followed Mifune into the room. In the middle of the room was a long table bent into a half circle with five chairs placed at it. One in the middle, with two on each side. At the mouth of the circle was another table with a chair, where Mifune took a seat, gesturing for Naruto to sit in the middle chair, with a banner with the kanji for Fire on it hanging behind the chair.

Once Naruto had sat down, getting surprised looks from the other Kages, one an incredibly short old man (the Tsuchikage), another a muscular, dark-skinned man with his hair in cornrows (the Raikage), who were sitting at Naruto's left, and Baki from Suna (the Kazekage), and a very beautiful woman with long, auburn hair styled into a herringbone pattern at the back, a top-knot tied with a dark-blue band, and with four bangs at the front (the Mizukage), who were sitting on his right, Mifune started the meeting.

"Place your hats on the table..."

Every Kage there took off their Kage hats and placed them on the table in front of them, looking from each other to Mifune.

"You are today because the Raikage has called this meeting. My name is Mifune. I will be your amoderator. The meeting will now begin."

"I'll go first," Naruto spoke immediately.

"The makeup of the five Kages sure has changed," the Tsuchikage said. "You must be something special to be made Hokage at your age."

Naruto smiled. "Something like that."

"The Sandaime must have taught you right, but apparently forgot to instill in you any manners," the Tsuchikage said, to which Naruto's smile widened.

"I could say the same. Didn't your father ever teach you that it's rude to interrupt someone when they're talking?"

The Tsuchikage kept his stern look for a few moments, before bursting out laughing.

"Hah! Cheeky brat!"

"Tsuchikage, please stop interrupting," the Mizukage spoke in a gentle, soothing voice. "Hokage, please continue."

"I am the host for the Kyuubi no Yoko," Naruto explained, making everyone's eyes widen. "I am one of the Akatsuki's targets. So far, I have battled three members of the Akatsuki, and I have to say, their abilities are out of this world. They are extremely dangerous. I don't know how many jinchuuriki they have captured so far, but even one is dangerous enough in their hands. When I battled them for the first time, they had captured Yugito-chan, and they have no doubt captured more. We-"

"Hmph! Don't come and tell me that you want us to divulge which ones of us have lost their jinchuuriki!" the Tsuchikage interrupted once more. "Once a bijuu is stolen, the owning country can't expect other countries to help them. It's an embarrassment."

"I have no time for old-fashioned notions of appearance and honor," Naruto said, giving the Tsuchikage a steely look. "Not when the safety of my village is at stake."

The Tsuchikage gritted his teeth as he glared at Naruto.

"Just because the beasts have been stolen, that is no reason to be afraid," the Mizukage said. "It takes time, knowledge and skill to be able to control them."

"The hosts must grow with the beasts in order to adapt to them. Even then, control is difficult... It won't happen immediately," the Tsuchikage said. "Right, Hokage?"

Naruto sighed and rubbed his temples. "We would be fools to assume that the Akatsuki would steal the Bijuu if they had no idea how to use them," he said. "The only ones who can truly be said to have controlled the beasts are me, Uchiha Madara, the Shodai Hokage, and Killer Bee, Raikage's brother."

At that, the Raikage raised his hand, and then smashed it down on the table in front of him, smashing it.

"Quit your yapping!"

In a flash, the bodyguards of the Raikage landed on the desk in front of him, while everyone else's bodyguards jumped down and got ready to attack.

"We are here to talk," Mifune said. "Please refrain from such displays of rudeness."

"Kiba, Shikamaru," Naruto spoke calmly, having not even twitched at Raikage's fit of rage. Shikamaru and Kiba looked to Naruto, and then nodded, jumping up onto the stands above the meeting room again. Baki ordered his bodyguards to stand down as well.

"Ao, Chojiro, it's all right," the Mizukage said, and her bodyguards nodded as well. With orders from the Raikage and Tsuchikage, their bodyguards left as well.

"Konoha! Iwa! Suna! Kiri!" Raikage said loudly. "Akatsuki is made up of missing-nin from your villages! And that's not all! I know that there are those among you, including former Kages, who have used Akatsuki for their own purpose! I don't trust you! I had no intention of speaking with you! I called you all here to find out where your true loyalties lie!"

"How dare you?" Naruto demanded, shooting to his feet. "Konoha has not, nor will it ever, have any ties with the Akatsuki! They stand against everything Konoha stands for, and you spit in our faces when you insinuate anything else!" he growled out, surprising the other Kages with his hostility. When it came to his village's reputation, he would never allow it to be smeared. "The only involvement we've had with the Akatsuki has been entirely illegal. Danzo collaborated with Orochimaru, and that's it. He is already awaiting execution once my spy returns from Orochimaru. Now don't you dare say that my village has had anything to do with anyone that would threaten the peace in the Elemental Countries!"

The Raikage, who was actually a somewhat friend of Naruto, getting to know him through Killer Bee, seemed to calm down, then nodded.

"Sorry, Hokage. But this is frustrating! And Kirigakure!" he yelled, looking at the Mizukage. "You are the most suspicious! You have no diplomatic relations with other countries... and there are rumors that Akatsuki was formed there!"

The Mizukage was quiet for a while, staring down at the table. Then, she spoke up.

"To tell you the truth, there were suspicions that my predecessor, the Yondaime Mizukage, was being controlled by someone. It could have been Akatsuki, but I didn't want to make a big deal out of it..."

"You all..." Raikage growled.

"Watch your tongue, Raikage!" the Tsuchikage exclaimed, a vein pulsing on his bald head. "It's because you were continuing to amass power and techniques during this time of disarmament that other countries were forced to hire Akatsuki in the first place!"  
"What?"

"People," Naruto said calmly, though he managed to get the attention of the Kages, who focused on him. "We can sit here and point fingers all day, and we'd just end up dragging up several decades worth of reasons, but there is something even more important that I have to tell you all, as a sign of goodwill, information that I have received from my spy with Orochimaru." Seeing that he now had the full attention of both the Kages and Mifune, he continued. "There are rumors going around the Akatsuki that the real leader is Uchiha Madara."

Shock went through the room.

"Madara is long since dead," the Tsuchikage said. Naruto chuckled.

"Well, he's alive enough to have controlled the Yondaime Mizukage."

"You-"

"This is information I have received since Orochimaru's demise, and I only became Hokage a short while ago," Naruto said, bowing his head to the Mizukage. "Forgive me for not telling you sooner, Mizukage."

"As a neutral country, I have to say, the leader of Akatsuki read the signs of the times," Mifune said. "He used the stability and the suspicions of the other countries to increase his own power... At this rate, even Iron Country..." He sighed, then continued. "But there's always a silver lining... It's rare for the five Kages to come together like this. What do you say? Until Akatsuki is taken care of... what would you think of forming a five-village alliance?"

"An alliance?" the Raikage questioned in shock.

"Not a bad idea," Naruto agreed. "We're in a state of emergency. We have to cooperate."

"The chain of command should be uniform. We want to avoid any further confusion."

"So... the question is, who will have authority over this new army?" the Tsuchikage asked.

"You will only fight amongst yourselves," Mifune said. "So, I would like you to respect my position as a neutral party. I will decide who among you is best suited for the job."

"I'd like to nominate Raikage-dono," Naruto spoke up, surprising everyone else around them. Seeing everyone, including the Raikage, staring at him in shock, he grinned and leaned back in his chair. "Hey, I may be strong as hell, and I may be good enough to lead Konoha, but I have no illusions about being able to lead five whole villages into what might become a war. I'm too young to lead, Kazekage and Tsuchikage both have a history of dealing with Akatsuki, and Kirigakure is the birthplace of Akatsuki. If the Mizukage were in charge, there would be all sorts of worries about spies and information leaks. Raikage-dono is a good leader, so long as he can keep his emotions in check." A worried look appeared on Naruto's face. "I don't know what, exactly, the Akatsuki is planning on doing with the Bijuu, but we can't let them have the Hachibi or Kyuubi."

"Too late," the Raikage said. "They captured Bee the other day..."

"Impossible," Naruto said, shaking his head. "Bee and I are good friend. I placed on him a seal that, if he was ever in mortal danger, he could just channel a minute amount of chakra into, and it would summon me to his side immediately. Since he hasn't summoned me, it's obvious that he's still safe and sound."

Everyone were quiet for a moment. Then, the Raikage snapped.

"WHY, THAT UNGRATEFUL LITTLE...! HE USED THIS WHOLE DAMN AFFAIR TO RUN AWAY FROM THE VILLAGE AND HAVE FUN SOMEWHERE ON HIS OWN? UNFORGIVABLE! OH, HELL TASTE ME IRON CLAW!"

Naruto snorted. "Sounds like Bee, alright."

"Now that the Raikage has calmed down," Mifune said, then looked to the Raikage, who was gritting his teeth in rage over Bee. "Well, somewhat, I second Hokage-dono's nomination."

"Who does-" Naruto started, but then stopped, his left eye suddenly springing to life. It whirled around in its socket for a few seconds, and then locked into place, staring down at the floor in the middle of the five Kages. "Hey, hasn't anyone ever told you that it's rude to eavesdrop?"

Suddenly, a green, plant-like thing rose from it, and out of it came a completely naked, bone-white man with yellow eyes and green hair. His right side was deformed, looking like he'd been put through a meat grinder, and then hastily put together again.

"So, you discovered me?" he asked, chuckling.

"Akatsuki?" Baki asked.

"It would appear so," Tsuchikage said with a nod. With a blur, all the bodyguards were standing on the table, surrounding the plant man.

"Uchiha Sasuke is here somewhere. The question is... where?" Then, a huge grin appeared on his face. "Let's all search for Sasuke! Come on!"

"Sasuke?" Shikamaru asked.

"What's he doing here?" Kiba continued, Akamaru growling.

"The one with the Sharingan," Mizukage muttered.

"The one who killed Haku and Zabuza?" the older of Mizukage's bodyguards, Ao, asked. Naruto cleared his throat.

"Excuse me? I killed them."

With speed even most of the Kages had trouble following, Naruto had appeared in front of the plant man, kicking him in the throat and pinning him to the ground.

"Come on now, tell me where Sasuke is, or I'll crush you," Naruto said calmly. It was only now that they realized that Naruto had also had time to put on his Hokage hat. The plant man just grinned up at him. Shrugging, Naruto pressed his foot down on his neck, satisfied when he heard a loud crack coming from his neck breaking.

"There was no reason to kill him!" Mizukage said. "If you had captured him, you might have been able to get some intel on Akatsuki out of him!"

"No one in Akatsuki will sell out their comrades," Naruto explained calmly. "They're all hardcore," he said, then looked to Raikage. "Shall we go?"

"Let's," Raikage said with a nod. "Shii, let's get started!"

"Yes, sir!" Shii, the pale-skinned bodyguard of the Raikage, said, nodding.

"You with the Byakugan," Naruto said, looking to Ao, who went wide-eyed, along with the Mizukage and the other bodyguard, "can you keep an eye on this place, while Raikage and I are gone?"

Though shocked, Ao nodded. With that, Raikage raised his fist, and smashed his hand through the wall.

"Let's go!"

"Kiba, Shika," Naruto said, and his teammates were immediately at his side as he followed the Raikage through the hole. They ran off, Kiba riding on Akamaru, as the Raikage's sensor searched for Sasuke.

"I can pick up Sasuke's scent. Below us," Kiba said, getting a grin from the Raikage.

"As expected of an Inuzuka. Shii?"

"I think he's right," Shii said. "I can sense a lot of chakras disappearing. It must be Sasuke!"

"Below, huh?" Naruto asked. "Kiba!"

"Got it!" Kiba jumped off Akamaru as he and the dog jumped into the air, spinning at high speeds. "Gatsuuga!" he exclaimed as they slammed into the floor, drilling a huge hole in it.

"In we go," Naruto said with a smile as he jumped in after him, Raikage and the other following.

As Naruto landed, along with the Raikage, who had covered himself in lighting chakra, they saw a room full of dead samurai, with Sasuke standing on the other side of the room, looking calm.

"Do we have a plan?" Naruto asked. Raikage didn't look at him.

"We kill Sasuke."

Naruto grinned. "I love simple plans like that."

Sasuke, wasting no time, charged at the pair, drawing his sword and jumping at them. Naruto was faster, though, dashing forward and meeting Sasuke in mid-air, clashing against Sasuke with a three-pronged kunai. They pushed off each other, landing in the spot they'd been standing in before the jump.

"It's been a while, Sasuke," Naruto said with a smile. "I hear you've been causing a lot of trouble."

Sasuke just glared, while Naruto looked at the tall, orange-haired teen behind Sasuke, who seemed to have partly activated a Curse Seal, half his face covered by markings, and his hand having a deformity on it, in the shape of a blade.

"It'll happen fast, Naruto," the Raikage said. "Be ready."

Naruto, knowing something was about to happen, charged up a Rasengan in his hand, just as Shii, standing behind them, went through a set of handseals. He started shining brightly, but other than that, nothing happened, though it seemed to have been a Genjutsu, as the guy next to Sasuke suddenly called out his name, as if Sasuke had been hurt or something.

"Calm yourself, Juugo," Sasuke spoke in his monotone voice. "This is just an illusion," he said as he canceled it. However, as soon as he did, he found the Raikage standing in front of him, with Naruto behind him, both of them attacking him at once.

However, Juugo got between Naruto and Sasuke, catching Naruto's Rasengan with his deformed arm, the skin of which was horribly twisted by the attack. Other than that, however, nothing seemed to happen to him. Raikage didn't have any more luck, as a guy, holding Zabuza's sword, appeared in front of him, catching Raikage's fist with his blade.

A loud crack was heard as the sword snapped in two, and Sasuke, Juugo and the other guy jumped away, the guy with the sword having his arms turn into water.

Naruto watched the trio of criminals, then went wide-eyed when he saw that Juugo guy activate his level 2 curse seal.

'No, wait... Something is different... The chakra is darker... more sinister... even more so than the Curse Seal...' Naruto thought in confusion as Juugo changed. A deranged look appeared on his face, as his skin darkened, and something like a headdress grew out of his head for frame his face, at the same time as six pipe-like appendages grew out of his back, with a chakra flame hovering above each pipe. The skin on his forearms grew thick, thick enough to act as armor for him, and his eyes turned yellow, with the sclera turning black.

Juugo cackled maniacally. "I'll kill ya!"

The Raikage scoffed. "DON'T PUSH YOUR LUCK, BRAT!"

With that, the Raikage charged at Juugo at a speed only Naruto and Sasuke's Sharingan could see.

"Kiba, Shikamaru, guard the sensor," Naruto ordered, getting nods from his teammates, who ran off to Shii, standing guard around him.

Now that Juugo was gone, Naruto charged at Sasuke, who glared at him with his Sharingan. However, try as he might, he couldn't put Naruto under a Genjutsu. Then, he realized why. Naruto had his real eye closed, and was only looking through his fake eye, which was impervious to Genjutsu.

Naruto whipped out another three-pronged kunai, and slashed at Sasuke, who raised his sword to block. Right before they clashed, Sasuke's eyes widen, but he was too slow to dodge, as Naruto's kunai cut right through his sword. Taking advantage of Sasuke's shock, Naruto spun, and smashed an elbow into his face, then came at him with a flurry of punches and kicks.

'He's fast!' Sasuke thought as he struggled to block and dodge the attacks. 'I can't-' He got no further, as Naruto connected with a roundhouse kick to the cheek, which sent him flying. He smashed into a wall, and collapsed to the ground, shaking his head to clear it. That was a powerful kick.

When Sasuke got up and glared at Naruto, however, the newly instated Hokage's fake eye went wide.

'Is that... Mangekyou?' he thought in surprise. Then, however, he narrowed his eye.

"It's over," Sasuke said, focusing with his eye. He didn't expect Naruto to disappear, though, reappearing right in front of Sasuke in a flash, smashing his elbow into his face.

"Don't underestimate me, Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed as he once more started a close-quarter fight, punching and kicking Sasuke, coming at him so fast that Sasuke didn't have time to focus his Mangekyo. He hit Sasuke with a 10-hot combo of punches and kicks, three of which were successfully block. At the end of the long chain of combos, however, Naruto took out another kunai, and with a flash, slashed at Sasuke's face. He'd intentionally left himself open when reaching into his kunai pouch, and anticipated the kick to the chest as he slashed, but a slight pain the the chest from a kick that sent him flying was nothing compared to the pain Sasuke was in, blood squirting from his left eye.

Sasuke let out an ear-shattering cry of extreme pain as he clutched at his eye, while Naruto flipped in the air and landed on his feet.

"You..." Sasuke hissed, calming down. He leveled his Sharingan at Naruto, who just smiled. Wondering what the hell Naruto was smiling about, Sasuke got his answer immediately. The Raikage flashed in from Sasuke's blind spot on the left, and smashed him with a backhand to the side of his neck, which sent him soaring away like a rocket. While he was flying, Naruto flashed into the air in front of him, and slammed a Rasengan into his gut.

Sasuke roared in pain as the Rasengan exploded outward, shooting him up into the ceiling and crashing through it.

"Let's go!" the Raikage shouted, jumping up through the hole Sasuke had just created, followed by Naruto. When they got to the top floor, however... "Huh?"

Sasuke was gone, nowhere to be seen...

"No, this isn't right..." Naruto muttered, looking to the Raikage as he pointed at a spot on the floor. "He was right here! I saw it with my eye! Then he just disappeared!"

"Damn Uchiha brat!" Raikage growled. Just then, Raikage's bodyguards, along with Kiba and Shikamaru, came out of the hole.

"Kiba, good," Naruto said. "Sniff Sasuke out."

Kiba nodded and sniffed the air a few times. Then, his eyes widened. "He's in the meeting room!"

The six ran off to the meeting room, and were met with a strange sight. The Kages and Mifune were staring up at the stands where the bodyguards had been, where a man in an orange mask sat, dressed in Akatsuki robes.

"Where's Sasuke?" Naruto demanded immediately. The man in the mask chuckled.

"Sasuke isn't here. I had to take him away. You two did quite a number on him, Naruto-kun," he said, clapping his hands softly. "My name is Uchiha Madara. I'm here to explain something to you... I just want to make that clear."

"What?" Raikage demanded.

"I want to tell you about my goal, the Moon's Eye plan."

"Uchiha... Madara..." Naruto muttered to himself, then clutched his fists. "Then you're to blame for the Kyuubi attacking Konoha."

"Oh, you know about that?" Madara asked, impressed, then nodded. "Yes, I was in control of the Kyuubi that night, until your father ripped that control out of my hands."

Naruto, humming, took out a kunai, and threw it at Madara. However, the kunai just passed right through the man, making Madara chuckle.

"Had to try it, huh? No doubt, you've heard about my abilities as well?" he asked, getting a nod from Naruto. "Now, will you let me speak?"

"I have no interest in hearing the twisted plans of Akatsuki!" the Raikage said. "I cannot understand you people!"

"I'm with him," Naruto agreed. "Hand Sasuke over."

"First, you will listen to my explanation," Madara said calmly. "I may comply, depending on your answer."

"Let's be calm about this, Hokage," the Tsuchikage said, somehow flying in the air, at eye-level with Naruto. "Let's hear what he has to say, and make our decisions then."

"It's a shame, really," Madara said. "I would have liked to have Sasuke weaken you to the point where I could take you hostage, but it looks like that was too much to expect."

"Hostage?" the Mizukage asked.

"For what purpose?" Baki demanded.

"Just to ensure that the Moon's Eye plan plays out smoothly," Madara said with a shrug.

"It certainly is a shock to hear that Uchiha Madara still lives," Tsuchikage said. "But why would a man of your caliber resort to these roundabout tactics? Surely, with your power, you could accomplish anything you want?"

"My wounds from my battle with the Shodai Hokage, Hashirama, were too deep," Madara said. "Right now, I am powerless. I am nothing more than an empty shell of my former self."

"So, this plan is for the purpose of returning you to your former self?" Naruto asked.

"Well, that's one way of putting it, I guess," Madara said with a nod. "But that's not all that it entails."

"What are you plotting?" Mifune asked. "What exactly is this Moon's Eye plan?"

"I would like to take my time with this tale," Madara said as he sat down on the railing. "If you don't mind, I'll just take a seat."

"What is this plan of yours?" Naruto asked.

"To have everything become one with me!" Madara said with a kind of giddy edge to his voice. "I mean to achieve a 'complete form,' in which all is united."

Shock and silence passed through the crowd for a few seconds. Then, the Tsuchikage spoke up.

"One with you? All united? What does that mean?"

"There is a stone monument passed down amongst the Uchiha for generations. Even now, it lies beneath the village of Konoha," Madara explained. "Upon it are recorded the secrets left to us by the Rikudou Sennin. Without our eyes, it is impossible to read. What's more, the Mangekyou Sharingan can decode more than the Sharingan, and the Rinnegan still more than that."

"Now this is getting ridiculous," the Tsuchikage said. "The Rikudou Sennin?"

"I speak the truth. The Sennin existed," Madara said. "And he left us this monument."

"Enough of this dawdling!" the Raikage snapped suddenly, stomping the floor, which cracked under the force. "What has the Rikudo Sennin got to do with this plan of yours?"

"Do you know why it is that he became the stuff of legend, worshiped by the shinobi world almost like a god?" Madara asked, getting no response. "Therein lies the connection between that man and my goal."

"Uchiha Madara..." the Mizukage muttered. "You possess the Mangekyou Sharingan, and Akatsuki also possessed a man with the Rinnegan. Then you must know everything that is inscribed there."

"Let's hear it," the Tsuchikage demanded.

"The Rikudo Sennin saved the world. Saved it from a monster," Madara said, making everyone go wide-eyed.

"A monster?" Baki asked.

"Naruto-kun," Madara said, looking at Naruto. "You once playeed home to a portion of that monster. The monster in question was the fused form of all the Bijuu, a being possessed of the ultimate chakra... the Juubi."

At this, a wave of shock passed through the room again.

"The Bijuu's tails only go up to nine!" Baki said, as that was common knowledge in the Elemental Countries.

"As I said, it is the fused form of all the Bijuu," Madara repeated calmly. "The Ichibi through Kyuubi are nothing more than beings created from the divided chakra from the Juubi... by the Rikudou Sennin, of course. The Rikudou Sennin developed a certain Ninjutsu in order to protect the world from the Juubi... Even now, that Ninjutsu is being quietly passed down.. the seal that creates a Jinchuuriki." Seeing the comprehension on everyone's faces, he nodded. "Yes... the Rikudou Sennin was the Juubi Jinchuuriki. In order to suppress its power, he sealed the Juubi into his own body. As the man who freed the world from the terrible Juubi, the Sennin was worshiped like a god by the people. But the Juubi's chakra was so massive and foul that if the Jinchuuriki were to die, it would escape the seal and terrorize the world once more. Fearing this, upon his deathbed, the Rikudou Sennin used the last of his power to divide the Juubi's chakra into nine portions and scatter them across the world's surface. And with that chakra removed, its actual body was sealed away and blasted into the sky, where its power could not reach. It became the moon."

"So, you're gathering the Bijuu to restore the Juubi, and take all that power for yourself?" Naruto asked, getting a nod from Madara. "But you've failed already! I killed the Ichibi Jinchuuriki three years ago. The Ichibi died with it."

"Fool. A being made only of pure chakra cannot die, unless swallowed by the Shinigami himself," Madara said. "The Ichibi's chakra was just scattered throughout Fire Country. I gathered up all that chakra, and sealed it away. Of course, I told nobody this, and Pein just thought that he had discovered a way around it."

"Clever," Naruto said, and Madara bowed his head.

"Thank you. Anyway, I will restore the Juubi, and become the new Jinchuuriki for it. Using is power, I will magnify the power of my eyes to the ultimate level, and activate a certain jutsu."

"A certain jutsu?" Tsuchikage asked. "What jutsu is that? What are you trying to achieve?"

"A massive-scale Genjutsu, reflecting my own eyes from the moon's surface. The Infinite Tsukuyomi! I will cast my Genjutsu upon all humans living on the earth's surface! Controlling all of humanity within that Genjutsu, I will become one with the world! It will be a world without hatred or conflict. Everything will be one with me... everything united. That is my Moon's Eye plan."

"To hell with that!" Raikage exclaimed, always one to be trusted to be blunt about things. "I won't give the world to the likes of you!"

"A peace born from an illusion is nothing more than a lie!" Naruto growled out. "Peace only holds meaning if it is created in reality."

"What do you expect us to find in such a world?" Mizukage demanded. "It would be devoid of hope, devoid of dreams! Nothing more than running from reality!"

"So, you mean to unite the world?" Tsuchikage asked coldly. "It sounds to me that rather than 'uniting the world,' you simply want to take it for yourself."

Madara laughed. "Well, do you five Kages think you can do any better?" he asked, and everyone could feel the raised eyebrow behind the mask. "Surely, you should all have realized by now... There is no such thing as hope! The concept of hope is nothing more than giving up. A word that hold no true meaning. Now, hand over the remaining Hachibi and Kyuubi, and cooperate with my plan. Otherwise, war will be upon us."

"War?" Baki questioned.

"I will not hand the Kyuubi over to you," Naruto said adamantly. Mizukage nodded.

"I concur!"

"What say you, Raikage?" Tsuchikage asked.

"I will not hand my brother to this man!"

"I may have no power myself, but I have the power of the Bijuu I have thus far collected," Madara said. "You have no hope of victory."

"We will not abandon hope," Naruto said immediately.

"Very well..." Madara said with a sigh. "In that case, I hereby declare the Fourth Great Ninja War!"

"The Fourth Great Ninja War?" Tsuchikage exclaimed. "Are you serious?"

"I'm not fool enough to say a thing like that in jest," Madara said as he stood up, the air in front of the eye hole of his mask beginning to swirl. "The next time we meet, it will be on the battlefield."

With that, Madara disappeared. Tsuchikage sighed and closed his eyes.

"Dear me... What now?"

"We have to form a shinobi alliance," Naruto said immediately. "There is no other way to oppose the power of seven Bijuu."

Baki nodded, and Mizukage looked to the Raikage.

"I recall you were against the idea, Raikage-sama?"

"It seems Naruto was correct, and no harm has come to my brother," the Raikage said. "But I refuse to allow Akatsuki to have their way with us any longer! We form a shinobi alliance, and settle this as quickly as possible!"

"What of Konoha?" Tsuchikage asked, looking at Naruto. "There are dark rumors going around about Danzo."

"Don't worry," Naruto said calmly. "Danzo is already being taken care of."

"Raikage-sama, we must make arrangements right away to track down Killer Bee!" Shii said. "If Akatsuki's targets are the Kyuubi and Hachibi, then they must still be pursuing Killer Bee with all their might!"

"Quite!" Rakage agreed. "Shii, select a search party at once, and contact the village so that they can begin the search at once!"

"Yes, sir!"

"We should let Team Samui know about this right away, too," the other of the Raikage's bodyguards said. "Omoi and Karui were seriously down about all this."

"In order to put a stop to Madara's Moon's Eye plan, we cannot permit him to obtain the Hachibi or Kyuubi," Mizukage said. "As such, it seems more prudent for our shinobi alliance to locate the Hachibi, and hide it away from Madara, along with the Kyuubi."

At that, Naruto scoffed, crossing his arms. "You must be joking," he said. "I will not hide while my village faces such dangers. Hide Bee if you want, but you won't tear me away from my duties as Hokage."

"I can't believe that I'm saying this, but I think the Hokage is right," Tsuchikage said. "It would be a waste of power to hide him away, along with the Hachibi. Should we not consider them as a valuable part of our own military forces?"

"Unthinkable," Baki said. "Protecting the two remaining Bijuu is a vital object of this war!"

"According to my information, they will need to extract the lowest number Bijuu first, as in Ichibi, and work their way up," Naruto said calmly. "As long as they don't get their hands on Bee, we're safe. Besides, if Bee and I team up, not even the combined power of seven Bijuu can stop us. We both have full control over out Bijuu, after all."

"I agree with the Kazekage," Mizukage said.

"I partly agree with the Kazekage," Raikage said. "However, it would be foolish to think that Konoha would follow us if we decided to hide away their Hokage. I know Kumo would protest if I was hidden away. But Bee needs to be hidden. My brother isn't the kind of man to follow any strategies we might prepare." He sweatdropped. "Who knows what he might end up doing... He would only bring chaos to the battlefield!"

Mizukage was quiet for a while, then nodded. "Very well. Do you accept, then, Tsuchikage-sama, that we should consider the Hachibi target to be retrieved, restrained and protected?"

Tsuchikage hummed grumpily.

"I will share our information on Killer Bee with Iwa, Kiri, Suna and Konoha," Raikage said. "Once the Hachibi is found, I suggest that you send that information to me. I am probably the only person to whom my brother will actually listen, with the exception of the Hokage."

"I will go back to Konoha and gather all the intel we have on the Sharingan, and share it with you all, so we all know what we're dealing with," Naruto said. "I will also share all the intel Konoha has gathered about the Akatsuki."

"Erm... Can I... Can I say something?" Chojuro, who had a thick blade on his back, said.

"What is it?" Raikage asked.

"Well... ah, you see... erm..."

"Spit it out!"

"A-Amongst Akatsuki's remaining members is Hoshigaki Kisame," Chojuro said. "He's a member of the Seven Swordsmen like myself. That man possesses chakra on the level of a Jinchuuriki... and Samehada, the most terrible of the Seven Swordsmen's blades... Put him and that blade together, and you have a human who wield every bit as much power as a Jinchuuriki... effectively a Bijuu without a tail... That is what my senpai have told me... He is a special case... You must be sure not to underestimate him..."

"We are quite aware of that!" Tsuchikage said. "At any rate... is this all really acceptable? The power of the seven Bijuu that Madara will be sending against us is a huge unknown quantity... Even if we do secure the Hachibi and protect him with the force of our alliance... if that alliance is annihilated, it will all have been meaningless. That's why I say, it would be more advantageous to us if we were to send him, along with the Hokage, into battle from the start, working alongside the alliance's forces."

"Are you sure about that?" came Mifune's voice, and they all turned back to see him standing there, looking at them with a serious look on his face. "We see here before us the formation of the first ever true shinobi alliance. Its power, too, is a huge unknown quantity... Madara himself is taking a great risk using the power of the seven bijuu in this way. If it were no risk, then he would not have gone to the trouble of coming here and attempting to negotiate. It would seem that the situation is not entirely in his favor. Furthermore, we samurai, too, will take part in this battle! Tsuchikage-dono... are you still so worried despite all of this?"

"The question of who will lead the alliance is still up in the air," Tsuchikage said.

"I stand by my nomination for the Raikage."

"So do I," Mifune said, nodding.

"Mizukage, Kazekage, do you agree?" Tsuchikage asked.

"This is no time to be arguing here," Mizukage said. "I'll trust Raikage-sama."

"Let's entrust it to the Raikage," Baki said, nodding.

"Ryoutenbin no Oonoki (Oonoki of Both Scales)," Raikage said. "As the only one who has fought with Madara, your information is indispensable. Cooperate with us!"

"You're talking down at me like you're giving orders, same as ever," Tsuchikage said, glaring up at Raikage.

"You don't have to believe in me... but at this rate, the shinobi world as we know it will end," the Raikage said calmly. "We've got no choice by to put aside our self-interest and cooperate!"

Tsuchikage was quiet for a while, then scoffed.

"It's better than losing the war, I suppose... Plus, if the shinobi world ends, where will I quarrel with you? I'll cooperate." Everyone smiled as the Tsuchikage grinned. "The shinobi alliance is hereby formed! We've gotta tell those Daimyo fellas first, though."

–Later–

As the Konoha trio crossed the border to Fire Country, Kiba grinned widely. Naruto looked back at him, raising an eyebrow.

"What are you so happy about?"

"We've got bragging rights," Kiba said with a chuckle. "I mean, how many can say that they witnessed the birth of the first ever five-village shinobi alliance?"

Naruto chuckled. "That's true. You can now say, 'We were there, guarding our all-powerful Hokage-sama.'" Synchronized raised eyebrows from his teammates were the responses he got. Naruto shrugged. "What? I am all-powerful. Did you see me when I arrived in the village during Pein's attack? I looked like a damn god!"

"I dunno, Naruto," Kiba said, shrugging. "I thought you looked constipated."

"You know, I thought the same thing," Shikamaru said, nodding.

"Oh, ha-ha, guys, very funny... Make a mockery out of my hero moment..."

–The next day–

"What?" Naruto asked, his eyes wide. He was in the advisors' room with Koharu, Homura, Hiruzen and Kakashi. "Danzo is dead?"

"He was killed some time before Uchiha Sasuke appeared at the Kage summit," Koharu said with a nod. "One of our best, lost forever..."

"We'll need to hold a meeting to appoint you as the new Hokage immediately," Hiruzen said, getting a nod from Homura.

"We can't be part of a joint force without a leader."

Within hours, Naruto was in the council meeting room, standing at one end of the table, across from the Fire Daimyo. Kakashi had taken Naruto's place as representative of the jounins.

"Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto," the Fire Daimyo said, "I officially appoint you as Rokudaime Hokage. May you rule for a many a decade."

"It's an honor," Naruto said, bowing at the waist. "I won't let you down. Any of you."

"That's what I'm hoping for," the Fire Daimyo said with a smile. "Now, this meeting is adjourned. We will hold the inauguration for Naruto-kun tomorrow at noon."

Just then, the door to the meeting room was slammed open, showing a panting jounin. "URGENT NEWS!"

"What is it?" one of the civilians asked. "This meeting is of utmost importance!"

"So is my report, sir!" the jounin said. "Tsunade-sama has woken up!

Everyone went wide-eyed at that.

Later, Naruto and Kakashi, who were on their way to the Hokage Mansion, where Tsunade had been moved to, were talking quietly with each other.

"Sorry, Naruto," Kakashi said in embarrassment. "Danzo slipped away from me."

"Wow, you're apologizing to me like I'm your superior officer," Naruto muttered, then put a hand on his chin, humming. "This could take some getting used to..."

Kakashi chuckled, patting Naruto on the shoulder. "Minato-sensei acted the same way when he suddenly held the power to order Jiraiya-sama around."

"Yeah, I heard how he forced him to do D-rank missions for three months, for stealing his money when they went on 'training trips.'"

The two reached the Hokage's Mansion, where they parted ways, and Naruto stepped inside, following the sounds of Shizune's voice, until he reached a room with an open door. Inside, Tsunade sat at a low table, sitting on a futon, eating large quantities of food. She leveled a glare at Shizune, which Shizune mistook for a hungry look directed at their pig, Ton-Ton.

"N-No!" Shizune shrieked. "Get a hold of yourself! You cannot eat him!"

Tsunade blinked. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Oh, I'm glad to see you're feeling better, former Hokage-sama!" Naruto said in a cheery voice, making both Tsunade and Shizune turn to the doorway, to find Naruto standing there, proudly wearing the Hokage hat. Tsunade went wide-eyed.

"Naruto... What the hell?"

"If you had woken up a few minutes earlier, you would still be Hokage, Baa-chan," Naruto said as he stepped into the room. "I was officially named Rokudaime Hokage today."

Tsunade's jaw dropped at that. She was shocked that Naruto had been chosen as Hokage at his age, but at the same time, she was glad that Naruto had achieved his dream. She never wanted the job to begin with, anyway.

"I'm actually happy for you, Naruto," she said, smiling. "Now I can focus all of my energy on the hospital." Naruto smiled and nodded. Then, Tsunade asked something. "Er... You wouldn't happen to have any food hidden in your hat, would you?"

Naruto hummed. "You know, I have no idea," he said as he took off his hat, then smiled brightly as he looked inside. "Hey! I did have food!" Tsunade went wide-eyed, but was immediately disappointed when a ration bar can soaring through the air, landing on the table in front of her. Tsunade twitched.

"Anyway, I'm surprised about the joint forces. I can't believe that Raikage and Tsuchikage agreed to cooperate."

"Just goes to show how dangerous things really are."

"So, Uchiha Madara really is alive?"

Naruto nodded. Then, he turned to Shizune. "Hey, Shizune... I need an assistant... You interested?"

"I'm already employed as the Hokage's assistant, Naruto-kun," Shizune said with a sweet smile.

"Oh... I thought you were employed as the Godaime's assistant. Well, since you're still employed, I need you to call a planning session for me. We have to prepare for war. I'll stay here and take care of the Queen of the Hungry."

"Careful, brat..." Tsunade growled. "You're a hundred years too young to insult me and live."

Naruto just stuck his tongue out at her, while Shizune giggled at the interaction between the two as she left the room.

–Later–

"I hereby call this war planning session to order!" Naruto was sitting behind a desk in a cavernous meeting room underneath the Hokage Tower. To his left was Koharu, and to his right was Homura. Six tables had been lined up in front of Naruto, three to his left, and three to his right, with ten shinobi of various positions sitting at each table. Among the shinobi were Shikamaru, Kakashi, Hiruzen, and, to the surprise of many, Kabuto.

"I would like to start this off by debriefing Yakushi Kabuto," Naruto continued, turning his head to look at his trusty spy. "You have been my spy with Orochimaru for the last five years now. What can you tell us about the Akatsuki?"

"Well," Kabuto started, pushing up his glasses, "The Akatsuki are down six members, and only have the leader, Madara, Hoshigaki Kisame, Uchiha Sasuke, and Zetsu left. However, Madara is fully prepared for war against the Elemental Countries."

"Explain," Homura ordered.

"Zetsu is an experiment," Kabuto continued. "His cells have been implanted in some kind of generator of Uchiha Madara's design, which has the capability to clone him. Orochimaru's last estimate of clones was numbered at around 50,000 clones, but that was two years ago. It could very well be over 100,000 by now."

"100,000?" came the shocked outcry of the majority of shinobi there.

"Aoba!" Naruto said immediately. The jounin sitting at the table on his right, closest to Naruto, straightened up, awaiting orders. "Send a message to the other villages. They need to know of this immediately!"

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" Aoba said, putting his hands in a Ram seal, before disappearing with a poof of smoke.

"Start gathering weapons and rations immediately!" Koharu ordered. "20% each to the battle squads and support squads. We must decide on the platoon breakdowns as quickly as possible! Bring us a list of every battle-ready ninja!"

"And something to drink!" Naruto ordered. "We're gonna be here for a looong time."

"There is another thing," Kabuto said, once more getting the attention of the other shinobi.

'Clever,' Naruto thought with a smirk. 'Instead of laying it all on us at once, you withheld some information, in order to get the maximum amount of attention.' Kabuto had always loved being in his superiors' spotlight. He lived for praise.

"I may have uncovered the general area of Madara's primary hideout."

Naruto stared at Kabuto for a few moments in shock, along with the rest of the shinobi in the room. Then, he grinned.

"Excellent! I knew it was a good idea to bring you home!"

–End–

**Love it? Hate it? You know what to do! Come ooooon! I crave reviews! I don't care if it's just a quick 'Good,' or 'Bad!' I just want reviews! They give me inner strength!**

**Now, in case any of you want to complain about Naruto being too young to be Hokage, keep in mind that he's the same age as Gaara, and Gaara was made Kazekage as well.**

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	11. Chapter 11

**So sorry for the wait! Alright, guys, here's the thing... This story will probably have to be put on a slight hold. I think I might wanna find out how the manga turns out before I do anything. But I'll do my best to squeeze out updates as fast as possible! Now, time to ignore me, and just move onto what you came here for! Here's the next chapter of I spy!**

–Begin–

The five Kages and Mifune sat in a very small room in Kumo, around a round table. Behind Naruto stood Shikaku, and each of the Kages had a jounin from their own village behind them, while Mifune had his right hand man behind him.

"You're all early," Raikage said, to which Baki nodded.

"The situation demands haste."

Naruto cleared his throat, looking around. "Couldn't we have found a bigger table?" he asked, feeling very uncomfortable, as there was only a foot and a half's distance between them. That, coupled with Shikaku standing behind him, made him feel very uncomfortable. "Doesn't anyone else here feel claustrophobic from this?"

Shikaku, sensing what Naruto wanted, sighed and took a step back, getting a grateful nod from Naruto.

"Better?" Tsuchikage asked, and Naruto nodded.

"A little, yeah. But seriously, was this the biggest table you could find?"

"We have more important things to talk about, Hokage-dono," Mifune said, sighing. "Please, endure for now."

"I guess I'll have to..." Naruto said with a sigh. Then, he turned serious. "First things first, I'm sure you have all heard that Danzo is dead. There will be no more need to worry about him anymore."

"I find that reassuring," Mizukage said with a smile. "Many rumors floated around about him, and none of them were good."

"Danzo had good intentions, though they were misguided," Naruto said. He had to at least somewhat defend a fellow Konoha ninja, who had done so much for Konoha in his time, both good and bad. "He believed in Konoha, and that Konoha should forever remain the strongest, even if it meant wiping out every other shinobi village. He was too strong a patriot. But in any case, he's dead. I believe we have to talk about the war, yes?"

"Agreed," Mifune said with a nod. "First of all, we need to address the matter of the Hachibi Jinchuuriki, and also any information regarding the enemy's headquarters, battle strength, etcetera."

"I have recently brought home one of my spies at Orochimaru's," Naruto spoke up, getting everyone's full attention. "He gave us the location of Madara's base, along with an estimate of how many men he has."

"And?" Raikage asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That creature that popped up at the Summit is an experiment," Naruto explained. "My spy estimates that Madara has cloned up to 100,000 copies of Zetsu." At this, every Kage went wide-eyed from shock.

"100,000?" Baki exclaimed. "How could he have done that?"

"No idea. That's why I suggest that we should unify our Intelligence-Gathering Corps into a separate organization, and send them to investigate Madara's base."

Naruto reached into his coat and took out a rolled up piece of paper. He placed it on the table and rolled it out, revealing a map of the elemental countries. He pointed at a spot on the northern coast of the land between Rice Country and Waterfall Country, known as No Man's Land.

"According to our intelligence, Madara is hiding here, in the beast cemetery known as the Mountain's Grave. As our joint army is located here in Kumo, they'll either cross the sea to the western coast, or march right through the Hidden Frost and Hidden Hot Spring villages."

"We'll have to send an evacuation alert to both villages immediately," Mizukage said, to which the others nodded.

"In any case, the location of the refuge for Bee has been decided... It's a place I've kept in reserve. It's only appropriate that it be in Kumogakure, which hasn't given rise to any Akatsuki members. It's an isolated island where Bee and I used to train together intensely."

–The next day–

In the Mountain's Cemetery, the newly formed TOUBU (Touitsu Jouhou Shuushuu Butai (Unified Intelligence-Gathering Corps)) had four of its agents investigating Madara's supposed hideout. Leading the investigation were none other than Inuzuka Kiba, commander of the Tracking Corps, and Nara Shikamaru, commander of the Intelligence Corps. With them were Kurotsuchi, a serious-looking, black haired girl from Iwa, and Aburame Shino and Aburame Muta, both of the Infiltration and Reconnaissance Corps.

"See anything?" Kiba asked Kurotsuchi, who was looking thought a pair of binoculars as they hid behind a set of rocks overlooking the valley that Madara was supposedly hiding in.

"Not yet," Kurotsuchi said, shaking her head. She felt a little weird, being the only Iwa ninja among a bunch of Konoha ninjas, but orders were orders...

Muta knelt and placed her hand against the ground, and everyone watched as earthworms popped up, obviously giving her a message.

"My worms have detected many life-forms underground. The estimate is, indeed, above 90,000."

"Tch... Overkill much?" Shikamaru asked, sighing. Then, he noticed something. "Hey, Kiba, is something wrong?"

Kiba was sniffing the air, looking confused. "I smell dead guys..." he muttered, then stood up, pointing to the east. "That way, away from this base... Akamaru and I will go check it out. You guys stay here."

"Alright, but at first sign of trouble, you come back here, got it?" Shikamaru asked, and Kiba nodded, before taking off.

Once Kiba was out of sight, he came upon another valley, one that made his eyes widen. Coffins were there. Many coffins. Kiba slid down the hill with Akamaru and approached the coffins, kneeling next to them and opening one, to show that it was empty.

"Weird..." he muttered to himself, reaching into the coffin and picking up what looked like a small piece of paper, but smelled like decomposed flesh. His eyes widened. "This is...!"

A few hours later, in the Kage meeting room, the door was slammed open as a Kumo ninja came rushing in.

"We have received word from the TOUBU!" he exclaimed, showing a scroll in his hand. He handed it over to the Raikage, who opened it and read it, his eyes widening.

"Edo Tensei?"

Mizukage blinked, while Naruto, Baki and Tsuchikage went wide-eyed.

"What's that?" Mizukage asked, and Raikage looked to Naruto to explain.

"Edo Tensei is a jutsu created by the Nidaime Hokage," Naruto explained with a sigh. "It is a jutsu that, using a human sacrifice, can bring people back from the dead, making the revived person a puppet, of sorts. The worst part is that, no matter what attack you use, they can't be killed. They will just regenerate. The only way to stop them, from what I can tell, is to either seal them, or force the user to break the jutsu. That was the only way to stop the Shodai and Nidaime Hokage when Orochimaru brought them back a few years ago."

"So, not only do we have to worry about those strange Zetsus, but we also have to worry about other strong ninjas brought back to life?" Mizukage asked, to which Tsuchikage nodded.

"Yep, that's right..."

"So, what kind of ninjas can be brought to life?" Mizukage asked, and Naruto shrugged.

"Pretty much anyone," he said. "According to my spy's information, the Edo Tensei only needs three things: To perform this technique, the user must first acquire some of the DNA of the person they intend to revive. This basically amounts to grave-robbing, although blood stains or organs salvaged after the target's death also works. The soul of the one who's gonna be revived must also reside in the 'pure world' of the afterlife. Those whose soul has been consumed by the Death God, for example, cannot be resurrected, like the Yondaime Hokage. And finally, a living sacrifice is required for the soul of the resurrected to use as a vessel."

"In short, it can easily be called one of the most powerful techniques ever created," Tsuchikage summarized. "That Tobirama... What a terrifying man he was..."

"If Madara was able to get a hold of the information on the Edo Tensei, either in one of Konoha's secure vaults, or in one of Orochimaru's hideouts, that means that he no doubt managed to get a hold of DNA samples of the Shodai and Nidaime Hokage, so we can probably expect to face them on the battlefield. For all we know, he could've gotten a hold of the DNA of any of the previous Kages, from any village, what with his freaky eye technique," Naruto said, sighing heavily. "This war just got a lot more intense..."

"And it hasn't even started yet," Baki said, and all five Kages, along with Mifune, let out simultaneous sighs.

"We need to organize an ambush squad to intercept the enemy," Raikage said suddenly.

"Shikaku-san," Naruto told Shikaku, who nodded. "Notify Tsunade, and make sure that the medical logistics company is properly equipped. Also, make sure the Intel squads are clear on their routes."

"Got it, Hokage-sama," Shikaku said with another nod, and Naruto had to hide a pleased smile. He loved being called that.

Mizukage looked at the shy swordsman behind her. "Contact Ao in the Sensor Company. Tell him they need to hurry!"

"Y-Yes, ma'am!"

"By the way," Baki said as the messengers left. "We have finished the new headbands," he said and reached into his pouch, taking out five headbands and placing them on the table. Naruto picked his up and looked it over.

"Shinobi," he read, smiling. "A unified front, no longer divided, fighting as one... Shinobi. I like it."

"Likewise," Raikage said, nodding. "Now, we need to start handing out the commander titles. Naruto!" Naruto perked up, looking to Raikage with a raised eyebrow. "I would like you to take the position as the Joint Shinobi Army Commander General."

"This young brat?" Tsuchikage asked, looking Naruto over. "Could you really handle it, I wonder?"

Naruto smirked. "While I'm not all that confident in my abilities to lead, at least with me as Commander General, we won't have to worry about my lower back giving out in the heat of battle."

Tsuchikage let out a barking laughter. "Nice answer, kid!"

"In any case, if you believe that I'm suited for it, I'd be honored to," Naruto said, nodding to the Raikage, who nodded back.

–The next day–

"80,000..." Naruto muttered. He was standing on a cliff, looking over the only smooth land in all of Kumo, where the entire Joint Shinobi Army was gathered, split into five divisions. Naruto was the Commander General of the army, and General of Division 4, the Long-range Fighter Division. At his sides stood Darui from Kumo, General of Division 1, the Mid-range Fighter Division, Kitsuchi from Iwa, the General of Division 2, the Close-range Fighter Division, Kakashi, General of Division 3, the Close/Mid-range Fighter Division, and Mifune, General of Division 5, the Special Ops Division, which Kiba and Hana were part of, Kiba having been transferred to that division along with Shino, to add to the forces, while Shikamaru had been added to Division 4.

"I've never seen an army this big before," Naruto commented, his hands in his pockets. Currently, he was wearing his standard jounin outfit, only with a shirt that was more similar to the type of shirt the Yondaime used. His bandages were off, showing his whole face, and his headband was on straight, showing his eye to the world.

"Neither have I," Kakashi said, nodding.

"No one has," Mifune said calmly. "This is the first time in history that an army of this size has ever gathered."

Kakashi glanced at Naruto, noticing that he looked a bit tense. He patted his student on the shoulder.

"Being our Commander General, I think you should try to relax, and maybe say a few words, Naruto."

"Yeah, that might be good," Naruto said slowly, nodding. He looked over the army again, and noticed a few arguments breaking out here and there between the shinobi of different villages. He sighed. "Already, fights are breaking out," he said and brought his fingers up to his mouth. Then, he let loose a sharp whistle, holding it for several seconds. Once he was sure that he had everyone's attention, he stopped whistling, and decided a speech was in order.

"Three world wars, we have endured!" he exclaimed, and noticed that people were now quieting down to pay attention to his words. "We've all fought each other at one point or another! We've all suffered loss at the hands of the others' villages! These wars have done nothing but fill us up with hatred, hatred that has been passed down through the generations! This is an endless circle of hatred and vengeance! We are here today to break that circle! To end the destruction we bring upon ourselves with each passing moment as enemies!

"But there are no enemies here today! Because we've all suffered at Akatsuki's hand! There is no Konoha, no Suna, no Kiri, no Kumo, and no Iwa! We stand here today as allies! As Shinobi! And after this war is over, if any of you still hold a grudge against Konoha, then you can come and take my head instead!"

Looking over the crowd and taking a deep breath, Naruto suddenly noticed that he had approximately 80,000 shinobi, all looking up at him in awe. Time to finish the speech.

"If Akatsuki has their way, the world as we know it is finished! I want to protect it, and I am willing to give my life to protect it! Not just Konoha, but the entire world! But I'm not strong enough to protect it all on my own! Please, everyone, lend me your strength!"

Very unexpectedly, everyone broke into cheers. Not just the Konoha shinobi, but _everyone_. Naruto had only expected about half the Joint Shinobi Army to be swayed by his words. Smiling, Naruto raised one arm into the air, fist clenched.

"EVERYONE WHO'S WITH ME, LET'S GO!"

As one, every shinobi there raised a hand into the air as well, cheering.

–

A few minutes later, everyone had departed, and Naruto was leading his division down the southern coast of Frost Country to intercept Madara's army there. Sadly, however, when they reached their assigned positions, there was no sign of anyone. Beyond the rock formation Naruto and his army were hiding behind, there was just an empty, plain landscape.

"Set up camp here," Naruto told the shinobi behind him. "I want a defense set up behind these rocks! Sensors, set up shop and start poking around. There's something fishy going on here, and I want the enemy found!"

There was a loud cheer of agreement as everyone got to work, setting up a field 'hospital' further back, setting traps and taking defensive positions in hiding, protected from any oncoming assault, while Naruto knelt behind a single rock, activating his eye and looking around, while pressing one finger against the ground with his other hand held in a half-Ram seal.

"Iie," Naruto said, and the Kiri shinobi sensor next to him raised his head, to show that Naruto had his attention. "Contact HQ. 'Target location reached, no activity.'"

"Will do," Iie said as he got up, rushing toward the Comm. Corps to deliver the message.

"You seem really into it."

Naruto looked to his left, finding Jiraiya kneeling next to him. He smiled.

"It's actually kinda enjoyable," he said pleasantly, still focusing on scanning the area with his eye and focusing on his finger against the ground. "Makes me feel more like an adult, worthy of being Hokage."

Jiraiya nodded, and looked like he was about to speak, when they both twitched, information flowing into their heads from the Intel Squad.

"Under the ground, eh?" Jiraiya said with a smirk, looking over the barren field. "No wonder we can't see anyone."

"No one's underground, either," Naruto said, shaking his head. Then, his eyes widened. "That's strange..."

"What?" Jiraiya asked, focusing on Naruto again.

"Footsteps," Naruto said, humming. "But no chakra signature... Whoever is coming, he or she is a master at stealth... I never would've noticed them if it wasn't for the vibrations in the ground."

Naruto kept scanning the area, seeing far, far away, about two kilometers away, how someone faded into view slowly. He was a tall man, wearing an Iwa headband. His body was covered in bandages, and he was only wearing a pair of pants, and nothing else. Naruto went wide-eyed when the man seemed to look straight into his bionic eye.

"Shit... he noticed me..." he muttered, to which Jiraiya raised an eyebrow.

"Who?"

"Covered in bandages, Iwa ninja."

Jiraiya hummed, putting a hand on his chin.

"Muujin (Invisible Man)..." he muttered. Seeing Naruto's confused expression, he sighed. "Haven't you been studying? Muu the Muujin, the Nidaime Tsuchikage. He's a very deadly opponent."

"Couple that with the invincibility granted by the Edo Tensei..." Naruto trailed off, and Jiraiya nodded at the implications. Naruto went back to focusing on Muu, and noticed that the man was kneeling, pressing his hand against the ground. With a poof of smoke, five coffins appeared. The coffins opened, to reveal who Naruto recognized as the Sandaime Raikage, and the Nidaime Mizukage, along with...

"Aw, hell..."

"What?" Jiraiya asked, seeing Naruto gulping.

"We need to let HQ know this... The Nidaime Tsuchikage just summoned a whole bunch of other Kages, the Sandaime Raikage, Nidaime Mizukage, and the freaking Shodai and Nidaime Hokage..."

Knowing how serious this was, Jiraiya immediately nodded and rushed off to send the message. Once Jiraiya had rushed off, Naruto sighed, and went back to focusing on the Kages.

"This is gonna get nasty..."

"General," a ninja said as he rushed up to Naruto. "General Kakashi has engaged the enemy. The Ambush Squad was successful."

"No wonder none of the enemies reached us, then," Naruto said with a smirk. "Kakashi-sensei is sure to not let anyone pass him."

"Also, we have been told that the enemy has attacked Division 1, and they are over-powered. Stand by for orders."

Naruto nodded and stopped focusing on the enemy for a few seconds, allowing information to flood into his head.

So, they were supposed to make a slow retreat while moving into a sideways chevron formation, luring the enemy into following them, while Division 5 connected with Division 1... Then, when they had gone far enough, half of Naruto's forces were to break off and join with Division 1, and once the coastal enemies were wiped out, they were to come back to join with Division 4 again, along with the rest of Division 1's forces...

Naruto hummed, then shook his head. "Contact HQ. Tell them those forces would be better served joining up with Division 5, 2 or 3. The enemies here are too powerful to just overwhelm with numbers."

"Yes, General," the shinobi said with a nod, before rushing off.

Naruto felt a tingle in his head, and stabbed a three-pronged kunai into the ground, before flashing away, returning in a millisecond with a hand on the Tsuchikage's shoulder.

"Why did you insist on coming here?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow. "Don't strain your back, old man."

Tsuchikage chuckled. "And who do you think got my dander up?" he asked, grinning. "I'm here to pick up the principles I tossed aside long ago."

"We'll be fighting our predecessors side-by-side, then?" Naruto asked, glancing at the Tsuchikage with a smirk as they both rose to their full height. Since Naruto stood much higher than the Tsuchikage, the old man rose into the air until he was at eye-level with Naruto.

"I guess so... Who would've ever thought a Konoha ninja and Iwa ninja would fight side-by-side as allies?"

Jiraiya came rushing up to them, and stared out over the field.

"Judging by the fact that Oonoki of Both Scales is here, HQ has already started preparing for these enemies," Jiraiya said, and Naruto nodded, along with the Tsuchikage.

"Ero-sennin," Naruto said. "I'm leaving you in charge. Take the army and follow through with our orders to retreat."

"And what about you?" Jiraiya asked, blinking. Naruto grinned.

"I'll stay here and fight, along with Tsuchikage-dono."

"Us two against all of them?" Tsuchikage asked, while Jiraiya went wide-eyed. "I think you give me more credit than I deserve, kid..."

"Naruto, you can't be serious!" Jiraiya protested. "You-"

"I will not send this many ninjas to needlessly die at the hands of insanely strong Kages brought back to life," Naruto interrupted calmly. "This way, we either lose, at which point you can send them to die anyway, or we win, preventing many deaths in the process. That's the duty of the Hokage, isn't it?" he asked and turned to Jiraiya, grinning. "To gladly risk his own life in order to protect his people?"

Jiraiya looked shocked for a moment. Naruto didn't know if he was gonna try to argue or something, but he didn't care. Even if Jiraiya were to argue, Naruto would still send him away. He didn't want anyone to die on him this early on in the way. Jiraiya obviously saw the resolve in Naruto's eyes, and nodded, patting him on the shoulder.

"Good luck, Naruto, Tsuchikage."

With that, he took off, and Naruto turned back to stare out into the distance, where the Kages were sure to be coming from.

"Us two against those five, huh?

"If you're worried, I can take four, while you take one."

"I appreciate your concern, but I'm not so old that I'd take special treatment from a cheeky little brat like you," Tsuchikage said with a grin, which Naruto returned.

"Who's little? You're smaller than me."

"Thus my point is proven."

"I'm not cheeky! I'm... quirky."

"Toe-may-toe, toe-mah-toe," Tsuchikage said, shrugging. In all honesty, he would never have thought, not in a million years, that he'd ever speak civilly to a Hokage, and exchange playful insults.

"I'll have to apologize to Raikage-dono later," Naruto said, spinning a three-pronged kunai on his fingers as they waited for the Kages to approach. "'Cause I'm about to beat the crap out of his father."

"This almost makes me wish Sarutobi was here as well," Tsuchikage said, looking like he'd been really struggling to say those words. Obviously, it pained him to say it.

"Now _there's_ a guy who'd break his back doing this," Naruto said, chuckling, along with the Tsuchikage.

"Yes, in his prime, Sarutobi excelled in all fields, Taijutsu, Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, but with age comes weakness. His Taijutsu no doubt isn't what it once was."

"Neither is yours."

"Which is why I have a fighting style that doesn't involve much Taijutsu." Tsuchikage grinned, then started floating forward, his face turning serious. "Here they come."

Naruto looked toward the west, and saw that, indeed, the Kages were approaching agonizingly slow.

"My Dust element has a very large blast radius. I hate to say this, but I wouldn't want you to get caught in the blast, brat," Tsuchikage said, and Naruto nodded.

"So, we just split, and hope they do the same?" Naruto asked as he walked alongside the floating Tsuchikage, who nodded as well.

"I think that would be for the best."

With that, the two split off at insane speeds, Naruto rushing to the right, and the Tsuchikage shooting off to the left. As expected, the Raikage, and both Hokage took off after Naruto, while the Nidaime Mizukage and Nidaime Tsuchikage rushed after the Tsuchikage. Ironic, how Madara would put those two together like that, being sworn enemies who had killed each other in the Second Shinobi War.

Once he felt that he was a safe distance away from the Tsuchikage, Naruto stopped, and the three former Kages stopped as well, staring Naruto down. A bead of sweat rolled down Naruto's temple as he stared at the three a grin on his face, which held a hint of nervousness in it.

"Oh, man... Not only do I have to fight my predecessors, but the Sandaime Raikage as well..." Naruto muttered, gulping. "It's an honor."

"Boy," the Sandaime Raikage said as he narrowed his eyes at Naruto. "I don't recognize that headband. What village do you hail from?"

"Konoha," Naruto answered proudly, which made the Shodai and Nidaime go wide-eyed. Then, he pointed at the headband with his thumb. "This is the headband of the Joint Shinobi Army, all five villages coming together in an alliance to take down the Akatsuki."

"An alliance?" the Shodai asked, raising an eyebrow. "Will the Elemental Countries finally have peace after so long?"

"I believe so, Shodai-sama," Naruto said with a nod.

"Your name, boy?" the Nidaime asked, and Naruto bowed his head.

"Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, the Rokudaime Hokage of Konoha."

"How long has it been?" the Nidaime asked, scratching his head. "The last time we were summoned, Saru was still Hokage."

"It's been three years, Nidaime-sama," Naruto answered. "Sarutobi-sensei was only the Hokage at that time because his successor had sacrificed himself to seal the Kyuubi. And Tsunade, Shodai-sama's granddaughter, was only Hokage for three years, before I took her place."

"That's enough talk, I think," the Raikage said thoughtfully, then nodded. "Yep. I can't control my body for shit. I'm gonna attack soon."

"It'll hurt me to do this, Raikage-dono," Naruto said as he took out a handful of three-pronged kunai. "I'm sure I'm gonna get chewed out by Aa and Bee for beating you up."

"You know my boy?"

"He's a friend of mine, yes," Naruto said, nodding. Then, he looked to the Hokages. "And it'll really pain me to fight you two."

"Likewise, Naruto," the Nidaime said as he raised his hands. "Prepare to dodge. Here comes the starter."

Naruto immediately threw one of his kunai at the Nidaime, who flashed through a chain of seals at an insane speed. The kunai was caught, however, by the Shodai, as the Nidaime finished.

"Suiton: Dai Suishouha (Water Element: Great Water Shockwave)!" A massive amount of water shot out of the ground, forming an eighty foot tall tsunami, which rushed toward Naruto, who went wide-eyed in awe at the sheer size of it. Quickly coming to his senses, however, he flashed away, reappearing in the air directly in front of the Nidaime, smashing a knee into his face and sending him flying. Surprisingly, however, the Shodai seemed to have expected this, not that Naruto knew how, as he was already flashing through seals. Wood shot out of the ground, slamming into Naruto's back and pushing him up into the sky, where it wrapped around his body, keeping his arms pressed against his sides.

'Impossible! He managed to analyze the capabilities of the seal tag in that short a time?' Naruto thought in shock and tried to flash away, only to find that the wood had somehow blocked his link to the Hiraishin kunai. He looked down, to see the Raikage finish his own chain of seals.

"Raiton: Kuropansa (Lightning Element: Black Panther)!" The Raikage shot his hand forward, crackling with black lightning, which shot out toward Naruto, forming into a massive panther made out of lightning. Naruto growled.

'No choice...' He closed his right eye and focused his left eye on the incoming tiger. The green iris of the artificial eye started glowing, and just as the panther was a few inches away from Naruto's face, a thick, green, laser-like beam of chakra shot out of the artificial eye, smashing through the panther and disintegrating it. The beam didn't stop, however, and blasted straight through the Raikage's chest and into the ground, exploding it with the force and kicking up a massive cloud of dust.

This was something that Naruto had been working on for a long time. It was a very powerful long-range attack, which could blast through anything. However, it wasn't perfected yet, and Naruto could tell that it still wasn't, due to the fact that the eye in his socket had completely exploded outward along with the beam, and had torn up a lot of the left side of his face.

Ignoring the pain and taking advantage of the momentary break in attack, Naruto used the superior strength given by his artificial arm to break through the wood holding him and flashing away to the kunai at the Shodai's feet.

As expected, the Shodai immediately lashed out with a kick as Naruto flashed in front of him, but Naruto blocked it and grabbed the mans leg, before spinning, tossing the Shodai at the Raikage, before charging at the Nidaime, who had been going through a chain of seals.

The Nidaime never got to finish, however, as Naruto started engaging him in Taijutsu. He needed a break in Ninjutsu while he tried to figure out how to deal with these three.

"You fight well, Naruto," the Nidaime said as he blocked a punch from Naruto. "You have to break the Edo Tensei soon! I don't want to be Madara's puppet!"

"And how the hell do I do that?" Naruto asked, ducking under a spinning kick, before jumping out of the way of a spiked piece of wood that shot out of the ground.

"Get me to stop moving, and I'll explain," the Nidaime said, and Naruto nodded, dodging a blast of lightning from the Raikage. He put his hand in a half-Ram seal.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Three clones of Naruto popped into existence. Naruto and one clone rushed at the Nidaime, while the other two rushed at the Shodai and the Raikage.

The pause in Taijutsu, however, had given the Nidaime an opening, and Naruto saw him finish a chain with a Bird seal.

"Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!"

A massive dragon made of water shot out of the ground and dove at Naruto, who flashed through seals as well, along with his clone.

"Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu!"

"Fuuton: Atsugai!"

The Wind technique from the clone amplified the power of the fire dragon that was blasted from Naruto's mouth. The flame burned white-hot and impacted with the water dragon, punching right through it and toward the Nidaime, who dodged to the side, and found himself face-to-face with Naruto, who flashed in front of him, grabbing a firm hold of him.

"Gotcha!"

The clone landed behind the Nidaime and went through a few seals.

"Katon/Fuuton Konbi Jutsu: Goukarou no Jutsu!"

Naruto jumped back in in time for a dome of fire to surround the Nidaime, keeping him in place.

"Nice one, boy!" the Nidaime called, and Naruto nodded, before rushing off to help his clones.

The Shodai, who had been furiously trying to hit the clone with pole after pole of wood, never saw it coming when Naruto flashed in front of him, smashing a knee into his face. When Naruto had grabbed the mans leg, he had placed a Hiraishin seal on him without the mans knowledge.

The clone blurred into view behind the Shodai and flashed through seals, ready to trap him in another Goukarou, when a blast of black lightning smashed into him, dispelling him in a cloud of smoke. Naruto looked toward the Raikage, to see that he'd already dispelled the clone attacking him, and sighed.

"This isn't gonna be as easy as I-" Naruto had to stop and jump away as a wooden spike shot out of the ground beneath him, ready to impale him.

Naruto flashed up to the Shodai and punched him on the throat with his left had, his arm cannon popping up. As soon as the punch connected, Naruto fired a ball of fire, which blew the Shodai's head clean off.

As the body fell to the ground, Naruto formed another Kage Bunshin, and they both leaped out of the way from another bolt of black lightning.

"You know what to do!" Naruto told the clone, who nodded and ran up to the Shodai, whose head had begun regenerating, flashing through seals and forming a Goukarou around him, while the real Naruto ran at the Raikage, who ran right at him.

The two engaged in a Taijutsu fight, and blocking one of the Raikage's punches, Naruto winced. This was gonna suck... This guy punched even harder than Gai...

The Raikage was unrelenting, throwing wild punches and kicks that Naruto had a hard time dodging and blocking. He never found an opening big enough to strike at.

–

Meanwhile, on the coast, Shikamaru had joined up with Kiba, who, being part of Mifune's division, had been sent to help Darui's division, along with Hana, who made sure to stay close to Kiba at all times. After all, their mother would probably kill her if something happened to Kiba in the field, and vice versa.

"There's no end to them!" Kiba exclaimed as he charged forward with Akamaru, crying out "Gatsuuga!" as they spun, tearing through the Zetsus.

"Kage Mane no Jutsu!" Shikamaru called as his shadow shot out, capturing sixteen Zetsus. "Hana-san!"

"Got it!" Hana exclaimed, rushing forward with her three dogs. Hana and the dogs jumped and started rolling in the air at an insane speed, their chakra taking a buzz saw shape as they shot toward the Zetsus, tearing right through them. As they did, Shikamaru released his Kage Mane, and switched hand seal.

"Kageyose no Jutsu (Shadow Pull Technique)!" he called out, his shadow shooting up as tendrils from the ground, each tendril catching one of the buzz saws and spinning them around a few times, before throwing them at another set of enemies. Shikamaru grinned. "Hey, it worked!" His celebration was cut short, however, as he had to jump away from a swipe from a Zetsu coming up behind him. Whipping out a kunai, he stabbed it into the Zetsu's heart. "Where the hell is Naruto?"

–

Naruto was panting heavily. The entire area was scorched, soaked, exploded and pulverized all around him from the large amount of jutsus that had been cast. There was also a massive forest nearby, where the fight had started, and lots of wooden spikes sticking out of the ground here and there.

The two Hokages had once more been captured, and only the Raikage remained.

"Watch yourself, boy! Here comes the big one!" the Raikage said and threw a punch, which Naruto blocked. He was surprised, however, when at the last second, he noticed black lightning crackling around the Raikage's fist, and when it connected with Naruto's palm, a massive jolt of lightning shot through his body, throwing him off balance and making him cry out in pain.

Naruto jumped back and stared at his burned and smoking hand, growling. So, this was the power of the Sandaime Raikage? He didn't really have time to think, as he had to leap out of the way of an attack from above, courtesy of the leaping Raikage, whose fist slammed into the ground where Naruto once had stood, shattering it and forming a huge crater. The shockwave from the punch knocked one of the clones off-balance, and his hand slipped out of the Goukarou.

Naruto had only just received the memories of the clone being dispelled by a kick, when he heard, "Suiton: Suihachi (Water Element: Water Wave Palm)!"

Turning around, Naruto saw the now free Nidaime with his hand outstretched toward Naruto, blasting a torrent of water, which hit Naruto in the face, drenching him.

Naruto briefly wondered what the point of that was, when he suddenly felt the Raikage punching him in the back, sending lightning through his body. The lightning coursed through the water drenching him, and never before had he cursed the Nidaime's abilities as much as he did now.

Lashing out with a kick, Naruto got a hit in in the Raikage's stomach, knocking him back.

Naruto jumped high and flashed through seals.

"Fuuton: Tenkuu no Yashi (Wind Element: Heavenly Palm)!" he called as he thrust his hand out toward the Raikage. The air between them compressed and slammed down on the Raikage, leaving a massive imprint of a hand on the ground from the force. As the Raikage was held down by the air pressure, Naruto created a Kage Bunshin as he fell and grabbed it, throwing it at the Raikage.

As the clone flashed through seals and trapped the Raikage in the Goukarou, Naruto turned his attention to the Nidaime as he fell, to see that he had finished a chain of seals.

"Suiton: Teppodama (Water Element: Gunshot)!" he exclaimed, his cheeks puffing out, before spitting a massive ball of water at the airborne Naruto, who went through his own seals.

"Fuuton: Renkuudan (Wind Element: Drilling Air Bullet)!" Naruto's cheeks puffed out as well as he molded a huge amount of chakra for the jutsu, shooting an air ball out of his mouth, much like the Nidaime did with his attack. However, unlike the Nidaime, Naruto quickly fired two identical balls in quick succession.

The Teppodama and the first Renkuudan impacted in the air, canceling each other out, while the two other air balls headed straight for the Nidaime, who dodged in time for the balls to explode when they impacted with the ground, tearing it up.

As the Nidaime looked toward Naruto again, he was surprised to see the boy do nothing more than throw kunai at him. Calmly, the Nidaime deflected each of the kunai, scattering them around him, and realized his mistake after he caught the last kunai, and was about to throw it back at Naruto, who just then flashed in front of him, kicking him in the face.

What happened next was too fast for even the trapped Shodai and Raikage to follow. Naruto flashed, and all they saw was a blur of yellow and orange. Then, Naruto reappeared again a second later, standing a few feet away from the Nidaime, who looked confused. Then, however, he was knocked back by an invisible punch to the face, then an invisible knee to the back, then another punch, and another, and another, and another. The Nidaime was thrown back and forth by punches that were so fast that it even took a while for his body to react to them.

Once the Nidaime was sufficiently worn down from the relentless kicks and punches, Naruto formed yet another Kage Bunshin, who easily rushed up to the Nidaime and trapped him once more.

Now that all three were trapped, Naruto let out a sigh of relief and sat down on the ground, wiping sweat off his brow.

"That was tough..." he muttered as the two other Kage Bunshins levitated their Goukarou domes and brought them over. "It would've sucked if you had all fought with your full power..."

"You did good, Naruto," the Nidaime said with a nod. "Truly worthy of the title of Hokage."

"What do you mean, fought with our full power?" the Shodai asked, raising an eyebrow. "Madara isn't holding anything back."

"No, Shodai-sama," Naruto said, shaking his head with a smile, "but you three are."

The Raikage blinked. "What are you on about, boy?"

"I'm saying that though a soul and will are easy to bind, they're not so easy to tame," Naruto explained calmly. "You guys, in your hearts of hearts, didn't really wanna fight me, did you?"

"Not really," the Shodai said, and the Raikage shrugged.

"I saw no reason to, so no."

"And that is why, despite the Edo Tensei telling you to tear me apart, your souls still managed to gain some semblance of control, and managed to hold back enough for me to beat you," Naruto said with a smile as he stood up, looking down at the Nidaime. "Now, you said something about stopping this jutsu? I thought it couldn't be stopped, even if the one who used it dies?"

"Oh, please," the Nidaime said, scoffing. "I didn't become the Hokage for being stupid."

"Could've fooled me," the Raikage said, to which the Nidaime twitched.

"Anyway, I wouldn't make a jutsu as powerful as this without making some way to stop it, in case someone stole it."

"My brother means, of course, the Uchihas."

"Fucking copycats..." the Nidaime muttered to the Shodai's statement. "In any case, the way to stop it is to forcefully remove the talisman planted in the head of the resurrected. Once you have the talisman, and override the chakra in it with your own, you have control of the body. At that point, you just make the Dog, Horse and Tiger seals and say, 'Kai.'"

"That's it?" Naruto asked strangely. "I would've thought it'd be harder."

"Well, you know how hard it was to just trap the three of us," the Nidaime said with a half-smirk. "So, break the jutsu."

"How about I make you a deal?" Naruto asked the Hokages. "Shodai-sama, Nidaime-sama, do you want, say, at least 80 more years in this world?"

"I refuse to be in this impure body any longer than I have to," the Shodai said, shaking his head, "so no."

"Ah, that's not what I meant," Naruto said as he nodded to one of the clones, who reached his free hand into his Goukarou, and dug his hand into the back of the Raikage's head, pulling out a kunai with a paper talisman on it. Once it was out, Naruto formed the seals, then called out, "Kai!"

The Raikage grinned at Naruto and nodded, before his eyes went glazed, and he started breaking down into small pieces of what looked like paper, revealing a dead body underneath. Now that the Raikage was gone, the clone dispelled the Goukarou, and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"How about I seal your souls inside me?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow. Seeing the two looking confused, Naruto smiled. "I am Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko," he explained as he pulled up his shirt to show the seal on his stomach. "Thanks to some tinkering from my father, the Yondaime Hokage, he managed to put a piece of his soul in the seal, and using the Kyuubi's chakra, he can stay in my body until I pass away. I can do the same for you. You will both be allowed to see this new age of peace, and the downfall of Uchiha Madara."

"That sounds awfully tempting," the Shodai said, nodding. "But what's in it for you?"

"Experience," Naruto said simply. "It'll give me training in the sealing arts, and I'll be able to talk to you both through a link in my mind, at which point the two of you, along with Megami and my father, can give me advice. I'm just a rookie when it comes to being Hokage so far, after all, and this is my first war. I could use your help."

"Hm... I would like to see that Madara six feet under..." the Nidaime said, then looked to the Shodai, who stared intently at Naruto.

"Well, I guess it would be a treat to see my darling Tsunade again, and I would also like to see Madara face his demise... You have a deal, Naruto."

"Likewise!"

Naruto grinned. "Awesome!" he exclaimed as the clones reached into the Goukarous and took control of the talismans, before releasing the prisons, while the original Naruto got to work on the seals. Once he had drawn the necessary seals on the Nidaime and Shodai's foreheads, around his seal, and on the ground around him, Naruto started going through a very long chain of seals, closing his eyes in concentration. Ending in a very strange seal, something that looked like a Bird seal, only with his fingers pointing straight ahead, while his thumbs were sticking out between his middle and ring fingers, he called out, "Namikaze Hijutsu: Futsu no Kyuukyoku Nehan (Namikaze Secret Technique: Buddha's Ultimate Nirvana)!"

The seals on the foreheads of the two former Hokage started glowing, and some sort of energy started to get pulled out of their heads, glowing a faint blue, the same color the seals on the ground started glowing. The energy was pulled out of their bodies, and started swirling around Naruto, before shooting straight into the seal on Naruto's stomach, knocking him off his feet, slamming painfully into the ground as he watched the bodies of the two Hokage deteriorate, showing the sacrifices that had been used to resurrect them. The dead men dropped to the ground, and Naruto panted, feeling extremely drained.

"That... was harder than I thought..."

"General!" came a voice, and Naruto looked back to see Tenka from the Sealing Squad rushing up to him with three others. They obviously thought that he needed help. "We're here to seal... the... er..." Tenka stopped as he looked around, seeing that there was no need to seal the resurrected Kages.

"Don't worry, guys," Naruto said, slowly standing up. "You should go help the Tsuchikage seal the others."

"A team has already been dispatched to help Tsuchikage-sama," Tenka said, to which Naruto nodded.

"Good. Now, I need to get a message off to HQ. Let's go."

"Yes, General."

–

**So, what do you think? Please leave a review!**


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